Same Ole Story
by Sombereyes
Summary: It's okay to wake from a dream. It's okay when things don't go as planned. It's okay to falter, to shout, to cry, and to laugh. To live every day to the fullest, until those days become merely a memory, sinking into the souls of those who will never be forgotten. At the end of the day, its only history repeating. The same old story on a different day.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm taking part in a few 10 hour, 10k blitz challenges this august. The rules are simple. Write as much as you can in 10 hours, aiming for 10k if you're lucky. Then, without changing anything too drastically, you post it somewhere, or give it to your friends. It's merely a practice of creativity, allowing unpolished ideas stand on their own merit, rather than anything else.

This is the result.

Either way, this was a fun project. There's another 10 hour blitz run during the weekend, so if this story is something you want to see continued, please let me know. I'm uploading in parts, because this actually became very long, very quickly.

 **Summary:** It's okay to wake from a dream. It's okay when things don't go as planned. It's okay to falter, to shout, to cry, and to laugh. To live every day to the fullest, until those days become merely a memory, sinking into the souls of those who will never be forgotten. At the end of the day, its only history repeating. The same old story on a different day. That's what makes it a story worth being told.

 _ **Blitz day 1, chunk 1**_

 **Same Ole Story**

If anyone told Yang that she was going to be taking her graduation exam for Beacon academy at the age of eighteen, she would have thought them entirely crazy. Her mission was simple. Kill a Grimm on her own. Not just any Grimm though, a Nevermore. The giant bird beast just so happened to rear its ugly head late one evening. This was her chance, but it was harder to do than it looked. Yang was still only a first year student at Beacon, besides. Still, she was an adult, and could take the finishing exam whenever she wanted.

Whether or not she would manage to succeed was still a question, and one that frustrated her as she chased her target on her bike, trying to keep up with it.

"Son of a Grimm!"

"Do you forfeit your exam?"

"What?! No way, I've just gotten warmed up."

"I see…then you may proceed."

"Gladly."

"I do hope that you have some sort of plan, Xiao Long."

"Yeah…yeah, I've got one."

There were good ideas, and there were bad ideas. Then, there were ideas that fell into neither of those two categories. Now, knowing this, as the woman in question did, one might assume that she would have gone fleeing away from the havoc taking place in the city.

A sane and normal person might have.

She wasn't a normal person though. Rather, she wasn't a civilian. She was something above that, greater than that. She was chasing the Nevermore right through the carnage. With a maniacal glee, she rushed off, ripping through the asphalt on her bike as if it was second nature.

Then again, for her, it was.

Leaning into the tight turns of the highway, Yang Xiao Long let her mind sweep her away. The road, like a lover, carried her through twists and turns, speedbumps and potholes. She embraced all of it, dodging the hail of feathers as they aimed directly for her. The large bird overhead cawing with deadly intent scared away the passersby.

Whatever brought it here, to this safe city, was none of Yang's concern. Where it fell on the other hand, was a huge concern. She couldn't let it crash into any of the buildings. Having been engaged in combat with the creature for longest stretch of time, her semblance was beginning to flicker out.

For as powerful as she was, the Nevermore would always have the upper hand. All Grimm of flight were difficult for her to take down by herself. She didn't have Ruby's speed, so cornering it wasn't an option. Without Weiss to help her, trapping it wouldn't happen either. She didn't have Blake's ability to fling herself from rooftop to rooftop. She didn't have her team there at all, either. Counting on them remained out of the question.

This was a fight of Yang's specialty. Endurance, and endurance alone.

Yang grinned as another barrage of feathers missed her, and the bird, known for poor eyesight veered off into the deep forest. Right where Yang wanted it. Away from the city, and away from innocent bystanders. Speeding faster, she kicked her bike into the fastest gear it could muster, the engine sounding a deep battle cry as it roared to life.

From up above, a huntress followed in pursuit, but she wouldn't be aiding this battle. She was merely an observer. Out of the corner of her eye, Yang spotted Glynda Goodwitch, fully prepared to incinerate the Nevermore within a mere moment if she needed to.

An assignment was an assignment though, and one Yang endeavored to take alone.

If she could do this by herself, she could graduate from Beacon early. She could become a full-fledged huntress. Her grin widened at the thought. She wanted her graduation so bad that she could taste it. Victory proven by hard work, determination, and raw skill.

Skill Ruby herself flaunted in order to attend Beacon. Skill that Yang now wanted to prove, to rise up as the academy's youngest graduate to date.

With the bird already wounded, Yang knew she could do it. Speeding into the forest at breakneck speeds, she flung herself off of her bike and fired herself deep into the trees. She knew she needed more bullets. Just a few more, and a couple well timed jumps. Finally, she was able to grab onto the large bird, clutching a talon with a vice-like grip.

At that moment, she had it. Rapid fire, the rata-ta-ta-ta of gunfire bursting into the gut of the large creature. The spiral downwards was the only thing between her and her claim. The bounty would be hers, and the crash landing proved this.

With great effort, she pushed the carcass off of her, watching as it began to dissipate into the dark shroud of nothingness.

"Sloppily done. Poor execution, it was abysmal by far." A woman's voice chided. Glynda bringing up the rear, having seen the display. "Aside from being reckless, you missed several opportunities to gain the upper hand. If the Nevermore had seen fit to cause damage to the city, it could have."

Yang rolled her eyes at this, but before she could rebuke the teacher cut her off.

"In spite of this, I have never seen a huntress so capable at such a young age." Glynda would have never allowed Yang to prove her worth if she doubted the girl for an instant, but, a first year student graduating before the end of the year was unheard off. "Yang Xiao Long, you pass."

"So, does that mean I get to graduate?" Yang asked hopefully.

"Graduate yes…be sanctioned as an independent huntress?" Glynda shook her head. "You have a few years of bounties to obtain before any world leader would allow that."

"I can't take a team, not where I'm going." Yang protested with a sigh. "Trust me, I would if I could, but I'm not able to do that."

"Yang, the reason why teams are comprised of four members is because there are very few alive who can do battle against Grimm alone." Glynda's voice softened then, becoming a bit distant. "Traveling in groups is the way of it. Two, four, six, sometimes eight, or even sixteen. A mere Nevermore is only one threat of many."

"I understand that, but Grimm aren't the issue here."

"Then what is the issue?"

"I…uh…" Yang sighed. She was sore, she was tired, and she didn't want a teacher half-way up her ass. All she wanted to do was take a long shower. Then, after hot water pelted her, she'd hit the sack. Let everything else wait till morning. She did what she set out to do, and her victory was well earned. It was only the start of a long road, that road could begin when the sun decided to rise. "Look, it's complicated, okay?"

"Complicated…" Glynda cocked her head to the side, just the slightest bit. "Yes, I do believe it is that."

"Then how about we don't worry about any of that for right now." Yang said as she crinkled her nose. "I reek of Grimm…and dirt…and…" She took a longer whiff of whatever that smell was. Cheeks tinged pink when she remembered that she'd almost blown herself sky high. A fuel station she bypassed. "Erm, gasoline."

"Indeed." Glynda sighed.

"Oops."

The elder sighed, only a speckle of fondness showing through her agitation. She fully expected this of the girl. Her uncle was a terror too at Yang's age…and even worse as an adult. "Well, that would be why bounties pay so highly. To ensure that any costs from damages can be mitigated from your paycheck. However, since this was an exam facilitated by the school, Beacon will fully cover the costs of any repairs. Once the proper paperwork has been completed, of course."

"Well, good, that settles that then." Yang smirked, thinking she would have to do even more odd jobs to settle her mounting debt.

"It does not settle other matters though. You will report to Ozpin first thing in the morning. He will explain the details of your newly acquired position in full." Glynda went on to say as she once more surveyed the area. Yes, it was a mess, but, she was also quite sure that Yang deserved to graduate early. Even if she didn't entirely trust the young girl to go off slaying Grimm on her own just yet.

 **...  
Same Ole Story  
…**

The slog back to Beacon was a long one.

She drove her bike through the city at a much slower pace. Yang, often accused of being a speed demon, often rode for leisure as well. Much slower, much more at peace. It allowed her to zone out, feeling the bike beneath her. She lived for the feeling of a rush, but after that rush was over, there was nothing better than basking in the aftermath of a job well done.

"I'm glad it went well." Blake said over the transmission, finally breathing a sigh of relief. "You really had us worried. We saw the gas fire from the dorm."

"Not to worry Blakey." Yang laughed. "Come on, you had to know I'd make it out of that just fine. Actually, I think it was my semblance that caused it."

"Why am I not surprised?" Weiss chimed in, peeking over Blake's shoulder. "Yang, that's completely irresponsible. People could have really gotten hurt."

"Even more would have gotten hurt if I hadn't." Yang protested, realizing how true both statements were. She should have killed it more quickly. She should have taken it down before it reached the city walls. "It was headed for the residential districts, I couldn't let it get that far."

"Professor Goodwitch should have stopped the exam then." Weiss protested once more. "You were two city blocks away from a dust store, Yang. A dust store!"

"Yeah, I know, okay?" Yang sighed with a shake of her head. "Not my finest show, but she didn't stop me."

Blake nodded to her partner, a proud little smirk on her face. Her bow twitched. "She didn't have to stop you. You made the right call." Blake firmly believed that, even if she was worried about the damages that resulted from it. "Look, I know from here it looked bad, but you were there, in the thick of it…Weiss was just really worried."

"We were all worried." Weiss shot back. "I wasn't the one about to jump out of the window to go help."

"Would you shut up!?" Blake bristled, half whispering, half yelling. "It's basic instinct to help out a comrade."

"Ruby had to hold her back…" Weiss explained.

"Speaking of, where did she get off to?" Yang took a sharp turn, and then entered the garage, parking her bike where it belonged.

Blake was the one to explain. Her words holding concern and humor, both emotions weaving into the tale, one that wouldn't be soon forgotten. "Nora had to hold Ruby back after they saw you go into the forest…and after that, when we lost sight of both of you on the camera feeds. Ren and Pyrrha both stepped in to keep Nora and Ruby from leaving."

Yang barked a laugh. That sounded like her sister alright. "Well, you can tell them that I'll be up to the room soon. I need to go to the medical bay and get some injections for my aura depletion. After that, I'm gonna shower. I'll bunk up after that."

"Sounds good, Yang." Weiss said, this time, calmer. The wordless congratulations would be as far as Weiss would go…but that was all Yang would every truly need. That proud little smile, that was good enough.

The blonde did exactly that, going to the always open clinic on site in order to get herself into working order. After that, a long, hot shower soothed the ache in her arms, shoulders, and lower back. Finally, all that done, she bypassed a vending machine to grab a snack, thus ending her usual routine for the night. Oddly, she wasn't sleepy. She was restless, and some part of her didn't want to face down Ruby.

Not just yet.

Not because her little sister wouldn't be proud of her. Far from it. Ruby would be excited. Singing Yang's praises all over campus the next day. No, what made her restless was something else. The aftermath.

Yang was used to leaving Ruby behind. Being two years older meant that Yang had to make some sacrifices over the years. It wasn't an option. The first time happened when Yang began schooling at the age of four, leaving her toddler of a sister home with their father. She still remembered the crocodile tears she came home to. Every day for two long, aggravating years, until Ruby cried when Yang left.

Finally, Ruby also attended school for the first time, and the tears stopped.

It happened again, at age fourteen, when Yang first attended Signal, leaving Ruby behind once more. Yang had to live on campus, as was expected of all attending students. This time, Ruby handled the distance better, being old enough to understand. It helped that their home in Patch wasn't too far away from the school at all, so Ruby could visit often. That their father and uncle both taught there made the school a common place for both of them.

The halls were like a second home.

When Ruby also attended the campus, the sisters saw each other often. Even so, being two full grades ahead meant that Yang had missions to go on. There were times she had to prioritize her team over her little sister. It was just the way things worked. That was the easiest separation, because when Yang left, Ruby studied under Qrow.

Yang was feeling guilty, because here she was, about to leave her baby sister behind again.

"Oh…wow, sorry, didn't expect to see you up here tonight…" Jaune said, laughing as he scratched the back of his head. "Do you…uhh…do you train up here too?"

"Nope." Yang said as she continued to watch the nighttime sky. "I was just thinking, that's all."

"Oh." The boy, lost for words, kicked the ground underfoot. "Didn't peg you as the type."

"Maybe I didn't want you to." Yang smirked. "Though, to be fair, that's what Pyrrha is for."

The woman in question cleared her throat, having just arrived a moment before. "What am I for, exactly?" She asked, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Pegging?"

"You don't want to know." Jaune murmured embarrassedly, as he gave Yang a dark look. "And I didn't mean it like _that_ …"

"Nope, I did." Yang told him with a laugh. "Really, though, Jaune, get on it. All you really got to do is ask."

"Ew…" He muttered, shaking his head as the unflappable blond smacked him on the back as she walked by.

"Yang, wait!" Pyrrha called after her. "Did you manage to pass your exam?"

"Piece of cake." Yang said, recalling her fight with the Nevermore. It wasn't easy by far, and in fact, being alone had actually scared her a little bit at first. Downing it had boosted her confidence. She was ready to be a full-fledged huntress. She knew it now.

"Congratulations!" Pyrrha and Jaune both said, each of them giving Yang a quick but happy hug.

"Ya know," Yang began, "As he went down, I was gunna give him a nasty look, but he already had one."

Pyrrha smiled, in spite of the corny one-liner. "I'm glad. You had everyone worried you know."

"Had to end the day the same way I start it, you know." Yang smiled, this time genuinely.

"With a Yang." Pyrrha said softly. "We know."

"Now don't go getting all mushy…I'll station myself out of Beacon if I can help it. I can receive missions in the area, but I'm not a student anymore soo…" Yang shrugged. "Look, can you guys just do me a huge favor? Keep an eye on Ruby for me. I know she's got Blake and Weiss. I can trust them to do a good job, but even so…she's my baby sister."

"It's not even a question." Jaune said. "She was the first friend I made here…"

"You have our word." Pyrrha agreed. "But what about you, what will you do?"

Yang took a breath. There was only one thing she really wanted to do. One thing she had to do. "I'm not sure yet." She lied. "I've got to talk to Ozpin tomorrow. I'm sure he'll get me sorted out. I'll catch you around, but for now, I'm gonna sack out."

"I see." Pyrrha nodded. "Well, alright then…"

"Hey Yang?" Jaune murmured, causing lilac eyes to look at him. "Stay safe."

She nodded her head. "I will." Another lie. One she was so used to saying, she almost believed it as truth.

 **…** **  
Same Ole Story  
…**

It wasn't until the next morning, when the moon began to fade, that Yang and Ruby finally had a talk.

Her younger sister was ecstatic, of course…as Yang expected. However, equally as expected, the other shoe dropped. So with it, went Ruby's good mood. Never let it be said that Ruby didn't idolize Yang. She well and truly did, often times forgetting her own merits in awe of Yang's own. It was a lack of confidence of Ruby's part, something she was slowly learning to break free of, but she hadn't quite managed it yet.

Then again, Yang suspected that as long as she remained on the same team with her sister, Ruby would never truly distinguish herself.

It was fine to be a team leader, or the little sister…it was also fine to be the young prodigy that everyone towered over, both in age, and maturity. However, even if it was fine to be all of those things, it didn't afford Ruby to be herself. She couldn't just be 'Ruby Rose', the girl, the person…something that the younger girl had expressed she wanted. To just be normal.

It was another good reason why Yang had worked hard to break away from the protective shell that team RWBY provided. So that Ruby could grow. Become her own person.

However, that didn't make Ruby accept it any easier. "So that means you're going to leave again…"

"Yep!" Yang said, keeping her sunny disposition. "Going to talk to Ozpin, sort things out. I dunno what'll happen until I do. I'm going to miss being a student though. Can't be a kid forever though, that's for sure."

"But you just whizzed through two and a half years of schooling." Ruby muttered.

"So what? You did the same thing, 'cause here you are, in Beacon." Yang smirked. "Look, I might be a fully-fledged huntress now, but I'm not…err…" Yang shrugged, her fingers tapping idly on the table they sat at. "I'm just a greenhorn. I can't take on any of the really dangerous bounties yet, and I'm sure they'll pair me with someone experienced. It's no biggie."

"…if you say so…"

"You worried?" Yang asked.

"How am I supposed to be a good team leader now?" Ruby asked, so used to having her older sister to back her up. Ruby gave the commands, but her confidence in doing so came in large part from Yang. Her older sister supported her decisions, come of them what may. "Four has just become three, and the rules say that teams can't reform unless two teams completely disband."

"Or if you get an exchange student." Yang told her.

"Yang...that's the problem."

Yang nodded, but didn't let Ruby's worries stop her. "Listen, if you ever get freaked out, just ask Blake. She's got more experience than I do, and she knows her way around a battle field. She'll know what to do, and besides, I'm just a call away."

"Yeah…okay…"

Yang gave Ruby the biggest hug she could. Lifting her up off the ground and twirling around. She was reluctant to set Ruby back down again. Then with a sigh, she put her hands on Ruby's shoulders. "I've gotta go. I'll be by to grab my stuff later…but you'll probably be in class when I do….you call me when you need me, got it?" Yang asked her, giving her a tiny shake. "And even if you don't…you're my sister, and nothing will ever change that."

Ruby nodded. "I know the rules by now."

"Good, cause listen close." Yang said as she let go of her and looked away nervously. For several long years, Yang contemplated what she would say to Ruby. How she would leave her sister by herself to learn about the world. She struggled with it, agenized over it…even felt sick over it…but today, that had to change. "I've got one more rule for you…and that's…" Yang sighed, hard. "I'm going to tell you the same thing dad told me before I came here."

"Really?" Ruby's eye's brightened.

"Yeah, so pay attention." This a breath, the elder sister continued. "He said to forget about the other rules."

"Dad said that?!"

"Yeah, he did…and for good reasons. Reasons I started to understand after I got here." Yang felt the tension now. More than ever before. It was in her chest, in her head…her back, her neck. It was all of the encouragement she wanted to give, and all of the promises she couldn't make. Was this how their dad felt, letting Yang go wandering off on her own? She could only vaguely assume the answer. "Fact is, Ruby, it's about time you did the same thing. Learn for your own, and all."

"So, you mean no more bed times, or having to eat the veggies I don't like?" Ruby asked. "Or what about the one that you and dad told me. You know...about um...staying away from strange boys?"

"Ruby…" Yang found it hard to speak. Her eyes began to sting, and she bit the inside of her cheek. "Those were good rules at Signal. They're probably good ideas to keep in mind here at Beacon too…but…" This was harder than she thought it was going to be. "You're not a little girl anymore. You need to follow what the school says to do, but all of those other little rules…forget about em. Do what you think is best, make mistakes, learn from it." Yang licked her lips, tasting the metal from inside of her mouth. "If you need help, you've got friends. Use em…and I'll come running when it matters, okay?"

Ruby agreed, still nervous and unsure. "I will."

It was the best Yang could hope for. Even still, it was unsettling to say the least. She could only hope that Ruby would remember the rules, keep them in mind, use them when she had to. She half wanted to demand that Ruby should be careful, but stopped herself from saying it out loud. Ruby knew that…knew to be safe…knew to stay out of trouble…and she didn't need her older half-sister to keep nagging her about it anymore.

With a huff of hot air and a curse under her breath, Yang made a beeline for Ozpin's office.

 **…** **  
Same Ole Story  
…**

Every would-be hunter or huntress dreamed of this day.

The moment when they were considered to be Grimm slayers of the highest authority. Graduating from an academy was only the first step, the journey a long one. Many students suspected fanfare, medals, praise from their school leadership, and plenty of other things. Yang, however, found the experience to be something less grand. More sinister by nature.

The man sitting at his desk was no longer the gentle spirited headmaster that Yang had come to know. This man, this feeling about him, it was vastly different. There was something in that gaze she knew. Darker, not exactly cynical, but lacking the calm and wise light in his eyes. She then realized, he coddled the students to some degree. He was choosing not to coddle her any further.

After some time, he sipped on his coffee with a look of authority.

"Yang Xiao Long, I've been expecting you." Yet, his words were kind. Neutrality chosen carefully by his many years of experience. Which, Yang noticed, was exactly the point. She was no more a prodigy than he, himself. "I'm sure you've awaited this day with excitement, adventure…I've always heard exceptional things from you. Your record, though questionable, leaves no doubt that you have the skill it takes to be called a huntress."

"That's nice of you to say…" She trailed off, not sure where this was leading.

"I won't beat around the bush." He said then, as he set his cup down. "Your motives also prove to be a challenge. Every person has them, but yours…" He could only smile sadly at her. "I don't claim to understand the specifics, but, there are some things better left unknown."

"So, are you asking…or…"

"Do you wish to tell me?"

"No sir…"

"That's Ozpin to you now."

"Huh?"

He chuckled then. "You can call me by name, Yang. As I will do the same for you." He then stood from his desk, looking out to the wonderful place he called home. The place he desired to protect at all cost. "I've known your family for quite some time, it's only natural I address you with similar familiarity. Now that you are no longer considered a student of the school, it's the right thing to do."

"You mean my uncle…" Yang murmured, unsure how she felt about that. Then again, she knew faculty members of the schools got around. They had to, otherwise there would be no communication.

"Don't forget Tai…and of course Raven as well."

"You…" She shouldn't have been surprised, but somehow, that bothered her. "It seems like everyone who matters knew her, expect me."

"You're meddling in a dangerous game." Ozpin finally sighed. "Qrow is worried. For that matter, so am I. Team RWBY is a cause for concern as of late. It seems that they continue to stick their noses into trouble. Though, I'm sure you would know more about that, than I would."

"...Maybe..." She spoke slowly.

"If you say so." He merely shrugged. It was of little recourse to him. Students were meant to learn about the world in their own way. Taking with them the lessons that would shape their futures. He couldn't only guide them, not control them. "In any case, I let you take the exam because I see no reason why you shouldn't be allowed into our little fold. Raven…you ran into her, did you not?"

Yang grew quiet, nodding slowly.

"That is exactly why Qrow worries." Ozpin explained. "Tai as well."

"So…this is just another way for dad to keep an eye on me?"

"Not hardly." Ozpin said mildly. "You are still a huntress now, fully capable of getting yourself killed if you are not careful."

"So, can I just accept missions whenever?"

"If you wish." Ozpin murmured. "Though, I do believe I have a better use for your skills, should you care to hear me out."

Yang raised a slender, blonde eyebrow. This action didn't go on ignored. A step forward, her interests were set alight by curiosity. "I'm listening."

"There are factions most untrustworthy. They're making themselves a little home, right here in this very school." Then he nodded to the outside. "As well as beyond. Raven, among others happen to be suspected. If anything, I'm sure she lingers in the shadows. In order to protect this academy, we need our eyes and ears open."

"And these threats are that bad?" Yang asked, incredulous. "This is a school filled with lethal students, and teachers…and you…"

"Hardly enough of a defense."

"But this school isn't exactly filled with a bunch of scrubs and washouts…it's not a feeder school."

"I'd consider it more deadly here. A target, painted on the backs of all students." He then turned to Yang then, sitting down, gesturing for her to do the same. "What you need to understand, what I'm sure that you do...is that no team is without their sleuth, vagabond, misfit, outcast, or reason to be here. Those reasons, they are not always pure. That can attract negativity…and not always Grimm. Though, one will eventually breed the other."

Blake's reason, her need to hide and grow stronger...it immediately came to mind. She was not the only one, either. "Yeah…okay that makes sense when you put it that way." Even so, it left her at a loss. "What can I do to help with that, though?"

"On your own? Absolutely nothing." Ozpin explained. "You lack the skill one would require to accept this venture alone. Thankfully for you though, Glynda has agreed to take you on. She's been working on this assignment while maintaining her position as a faculty member. Truth be told, it limits her abilities a fair bit. This is purely a surveillance position, I doubt you'll run into any trouble."

"What exactly do you expect me to find?" Yang asked.

"I don't expect you to find anything." Ozpin explained as he removed his glasses to clean them. "I expect you to act first, should any threat to this school decide to strike. Hiding in plain sight is the best way to do that. It's why the teachers here maintain their roles…why the older students don't leave the cities as much…and why, in spite of all of the skill your family possesses, Qrow, Tai, and now yourself remain where that strength is most needed. Bolstering up the defenses of the cities and outlying farmlands comes first."

"Ahh, throw some muscle around." Yang nodded. "Got it…" In fact, that sounded good to her. It would give her an excuse to actually go looking for her mother, among other ventures. "I'm totally in on this."

"There is a condition, mind you."

"Oh?"

"Not a word of this to anyone outside of the fold." Ozpin said carefully. His words gravely serious. "That includes any information your friends may want. Your job, as a huntress, is to protect those incapable of doing so themselves. That includes the students at this school… _all_ of the students at this school. Without resorting to bias, or assumptions. They are students, you are the superior. Do not neglect to uphold that standard."

"Ah, gotcha."

"That includes your sister, and former teammates."

Yang could only feel dizzy at the thought. "Trust me…" She said, full of her own fears about that. "I don't want my little sister anywhere near Raven…even if she is my mom….but, as far as everything else…" Yang wondered if Ozpin really stood a chance of keeping things under wraps. "Let's just say, if I know that team…and I do…they'll find trouble anywhere. They're really good at that."

"As history foretells." Ozpin agreed. "Enough of that for now. I don't know about you, but I'm famished. We should take a meal in the teacher's lounge."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Next ten hour blitz happening on the weekend.

 **Blitz day 1, chunk 2**

 **Same Ole Story**

The professors had their own set of living quarters, much roomier than the dorms allotted for the students. Each room for the faculty included only two beds, a privacy screen separating the two, along with a bathroom to share. Each room also contained two desks, and plenty of storage along the floors, walls, and ceiling. Many faculty members enjoyed plenty of the same areas as the students. This included the combat arenas, gyms, medical facilities, and the school grounds themselves. Separated however, were several common rooms intended only for faculty, twenty four hour access to the forge, an open kitchen, and a mess hall that served food during the day upon request.

It was a good life, comfortable, for a huntress.

Yang had noticed that at both lunch and dinner, there were several highly acclaimed hunters and huntresses partaking meals. Many of them didn't work at Beacon. It was later explained that Beacon, and every other academy for that matter, offered hunters and huntresses housing at affordable rates. Due to the nature of their travels, it merely made sense for them to live in smaller housing than what would be considered normal. They could rent rooms temporarily for a fee, or buys rooms to keep them.

This interesting little truth was also why Glynda didn't bat an eye when Yang began to unpack her things.

"You cool with me hanging up my posters? She asked, noting that Glynda had left her privacy screen open, and didn't seem to have an inclination to close it at that moment.

"Your side of the room is yours to do with as you please." Glynda murmured, not lifting her eyes up from the paperwork on her desk. "It isn't within my jurisdiction to mind about it one way or the other…"

"Yeah, but these are um… _those_ posters." Yang reiterated. "The ones you made me take down the second week into semester…"

"Students here are required to uphold some level of decorum in their rooms. Youths minds are impressionable." Glynda stated simply as she finally looked up from her work. "We work to maintain authority, and an environment conducive to learning. Unfortunately for you, posters of an oversexualized nature disrupt that." She then went back to grading papers. "Faculty, on the other hand, are under no such regulation. What we do in our rooms, that's no one's business but our own."

Yang nodded, but went back to sorting her things quietly. Earphones in her ears, blasting some metal music she enjoyed as she finished what she was doing. Glynda had yet to move, even after Yang and made called it quits for the night, showering and hopping into bed. "You're still at it? How many of those things are there?"

"Several." The woman murmured once again.

Yang, now curious, hopped out of bed and leaned over the desk, her shadow ghosting across white paper and she snickered. "Ah, that explains it."

Glynda frowned, glasses coming off as she rubbed her eyes. "Explain to me, if you would, how Ruby Rose can be such a competent fighter, but she can't even write a thesis on her own semblance?"

"Uh, boredom, really." Yang shrugged. She wasn't really sure why Ruby was so bad in most of her classes. "She's got the material down, grill her on it though, it comes out a jumbled heap."

"So I've noticed." Glynda, largely unimpressed, began marking red lines everywhere once more. "Her grades in my class shouldn't be this low."

"That's just the way she is."

"A running theme of the first year students."

"Jaune's not that bad. Pyrrha's got him covered. His grades should be going up, not down. And Nora's…well…Nora."

Glynda looked up again. "Have you been looking at my grade book?"

"No, I just know my friends." Yang laughed, realizing for the first time that they really were important to her in more ways than one. "If it's any consolation, whenever we weren't having food fights, we were trying to cram notes into both Jaune and Ruby. We eventually gave up when we realized that no amount of stuffing that information in their heads was going to make it stick." She sighed then. "So, what am I, faculty? Does that mean I can't chill with them anymore?"

"I would be careful with any interaction you might share with your friends. It might cause them to be bullied otherwise." Glynda, having finished correcting Ruby's thesis, carefully set it aside, cleaning her desk for the night. Her meticulousness didn't go on ignored, but it wasn't spoken about. Instead, Yang merely watched from her place. "You aren't considered a faculty member though, as of yet…so any friendships you do keep can remain as they are."

"Why choose me…"

"Beg your pardon?"

"Aw come on, you don't just pass a first year student into graduating early. Not without some sort of ulterior motive. If it's not my dad keeping an eye on me, or Ozpin trying to wrangle information out on my team…what is it?" Yang could only figure it was something else. "I just don't get it, that's all."

Several moments of silence passed before Glynda spoke up. "Graduating bothers you?"

"Uh, something like that. Yeah."

"It has nothing to do with any of those things. Honestly, team RWBY is exceptional. That's all it comes down to." It wasn't a question in Glynda's mind now. Ozpin had made the right choice. "The test itself had little to do with grades, but rather, aptitude itself. Ozpin believes some hunters are better trained by experience, rather than classroom activity. You just so happen to fit into his parameters."

"So teaming with you…pure luck?" Yang asked.

Glynda shook her head. "Ozpin had three choices. Pair you with Oobleck, Qrow, or myself. We are the three most apt to travel out into the field. It goes without saying that pairing you with your uncle is not how we would want you to begin your career. I can't even fathom the trail of carnage that would inevitably cause. I hope you understand."

"More than you realize." Yang smirked. "Think I'm bad, should have seen what he used to train Ruby to do in the forest. Makes my combat style look tame in comparison."

"Terrible influence aside, his drinking is far beyond what any girl of your age should be around." Mentally pushing away the many training videos she had seen before the girl had been admitted to Beacon, Glynda continued. "Oobleck, on the other hand, spends most of his time in historical pursuits. Hardly fitting for a huntress such as yourself, battle ready and position prone. As a frontline fighter, it only makes sense to be paired with someone able to battle from a distance."

"You do realize I need to be able to take hits in order to dish 'em out, right?"

"Hence the prone state of your position." Glynda explained, as she partook her nightgown and robe that she had lain out across her bed, stepping towards the bathroom. "Yang, a word of advice from one huntress to another…don't let yourself get hung up on the semantics. You'll find that it isn't worth the effort to do so. Instead, try to let intuition guide you."

Yang let out a slow breath. "Yeah…I can see that." Even though, in truth, she felt like she had fallen deeper down the rabbit hole.

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story  
…**

Her first assignment out in the field was simple. A list of places to scout out. None of them particularly dangerous, most of them out in the open markets. That's what Ozpin was so concerned about. While he employed the idea of hiding in plain sight, he knew well that several others also believed in the same things. Not all of them were good or honorable people.

Yang did the rounds with a swagger in her hips, exuding self-confidence as she meandered the city streets, working her body in such a way to draw attention to herself, which was exactly what she wanted.

"Do you mind?" The sound of Glynda's voice came in through the ear piece that Yang wore. "When I said act casual, I certainly didn't mean to act like that."

"Relax, this is nothing. You haven't even seen me kick up the heat yet." Yang smirked, her coffee cup pressed to her lips as she took a slow drink. Some of the boys around her age were eating the sight up. She winked at them. "Heh, they're like a bee to honey."

"I'm afraid to ask. Don't you think you're being just a little…well…perhaps just a bit scandalous?"

"Hunters need to be prepared at all times." Yang could only let her green spread wider. "That means being dressed to kill." The boys, and now even some of the ladies were practically drooling over the sexy, flirty woman in too tight short-shorts. Yang's top that begged to be peeled off of her, and she knew it. "Or, as I say, If ya' got it, flaunt it."

"And attract every man within a five mile radius." Glynda sighed. "I thank dust that you're of age."

"Not that it really matters." Yang said, though this time her voice gained an edge. "Some people don't think about that. I've had my fair share of run-ins with scum bags that wouldn't take no for an answer before. Resulted in more than one nasty bar fight."

"Well, perhaps if you were just a bit more conservative."

"I wouldn't stand out." Yang said pointedly, with a playful air back in her voice. She winked at a passerby. A much older woman by the looks of it, but she still had it, and she was strutting her stuff too. She waited until she was out of earshot before letting out a low whistle. "I'm definitely in the red light district. Heads up, you're about to lose video feed for a sec."

"Where did you go?"

"Short cut…"

"Why does that terrify me?" Glynda hissed through her teeth. "Yang, be careful."

"Careful and this place doesn't mix. It's all booze, sex, and drugs around here. I've been around this place before. Got an old friend here, might call in a few favors." Yang warned turning down a dark alleyway that she knew well. "Going to lose sound too, gonna disable the ear piece while I talk."

"What?!" Glynda asked, not believing what she heard. "No!"

"It's fine...trust me, I'm used to it." Yang replied, only to hear shouts of the negative on the other side. She stopped and huffed out an exasperated sigh. "Ow! Hey, lay off will ya? What's the drama lama?"

"Under no circumstance do you take off that earpiece." Glynda told her. Anger and trepidation mixing. "Besides, we have a set route you need to follow. Ozpin's orders."

"Alright, alright." Yang snickered. "Relax, teach."

"…Don't call me that."

"What, teach?" Yang laughed playfully. "That's what you are, aren't you?"

"I am also your new teammate. Glynda will do."

"Uh…that's kind of…err" Yang couldn't find the words. "Look, you were actually my teacher until two days ago…and now you're my teammate…it's weird."

A long suffering sigh crackled both ear pieces. Yang was sure that Glynda was rubbing her temples in agitation. "Awkward as this may be, you'll need to grow accustom to this level of familiarity quickly. There may come a time when you find yourself trailing other hunters and huntresses of higher authority than myself."

"Ozpin not withstanding…" Yang added.

"See? You can say his name easily enough."

"He didn't have me in detention for weeks on end." Yang groused, eyeballing a group of people that walked by. She didn't see anything amiss. "Besides that, it's not like I dealt with him very much…my brain is hardwired not to call you by your first name."

"Amazing what a single day of larine duty can do, isn't it Yang?"

"Amazing you casually use my first name as if it was nothing."

There was an audible pause. "Does it truly bother you?"

"No, but…" Yang took a moment, eyeing a suspicious man that was packing heat. She followed his movements until he stopped at a dust shop, flashing his permit. The guard let him through. Yang continued from where she left off. "Like I said, it's just weird." She did one more sweep of the final street, and chucked her now empty coffee cup in the trash. "Perimeter sweep finished, and we got nothing."

"Good." Glynda said, truly sounding relieved. "Come back to Beacon then, and we'll run another sweep of that quadrant before nightfall."

"Gotcha…"

Hands in her pockets, Yang looked over to one of the shortcuts she favored. It was weird having an authority figure in her ear, and knowing she was being watched from the safety of Beacon didn't help. Glynda was also prepping for a call this hour, so it came as no surprise as to why the woman wasn't also out on patrol. Deciding better of trying to defy her, Yang decided she would much rather just go chill out back at the campus. If she got there early enough, she could check in on her former classmates before they finished lunch.

It seemed like a good plan as any, but as she kept walking, she kept thinking.

Maybe…maybe…it wasn't a good idea to go barging in on all of them right this second.

"Yang, are you okay?" Glynda asked through the feed they shared. "According to the scanners, your semblance is firing up."

"I'm fine." Yang said as coolly as possible, almost forcing an uneven growl from her voice as she did so.

"I'd highly doubt that."

"If you really knew me, you'd probably doubt a lot of things about me." Yang tossed out, the offhanded comment lacking anything more than truth.

Looking around the shops and corner stores, Yang was reminded of the same walk she and the rest of her team would take every weekend. It was a leisurely one, but tried and true. They'd go to a few clothing stores first, then a few dust stores, and then, the junkyard by the port. After all of that, if they were feeling bored, they would sometimes check out the manufacturers along the boulevard, leading them to their favorite string of food stalls.

The way home was brightest down that one street, and they'd walk back to Beacon, full of food, tasty treat in hand, and tired from their long day of fun and relaxation. On nights like that, they would stay up late, watch the stars pass them by. Was that all gone now?

Yang was afraid to find out.

"My class is about to start soon." Glynda told her. "I've got to cut the transmission now. Return home safely please. Huntress or not, none of us should be acting alone."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story  
…**

Seven in the evening, weight room three, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, without fail. These were the terms of Yang's workout regimen, and the girls had followed her example. Yang was built, and knew how to keep herself in tip top shape. She had helped all of them customize a routine that best fit them.

Weiss had been working mostly with endurance training, cardio and yoga being her primary way. Blake relied on slightly more weight training than Weiss, but often acted as a yoga buddy for the silver haired girl. Ruby was heading to be rock solid if she kept up her routine, not that Yang minded in the slightest as she reached the room, and thankfully, the team inside.

The door closed with an echo, as three sets of eyes found hers.

"Yang?" Ruby asked, gripping her dumbbell tighter in her grip, not breaking her studious position. "You're really going to train with us, still?"

She could admit, she was nervous at first about joining in with a distinctly team activity…but this _was_ her team….Ruby was her sister, and Yang would beat the hell out of the first person who questioned her motives on the matter. "Wouldn't miss it for the world." Yang said, as she jumped onto one of the treadmills and began her warmup right beside Weiss and Blake. "My routine lasts twice as long as yours anyway. If I want to get an early night, I kind of have to."

"Soo, how does it feel?" Weiss was the first to ask. "Have you taken any missions yet?"

"One." Yang slowly began to adjust the speed from a relaxed job to a faster one. "It'll keep me stationed around here for the interim. I can't talk about it though."

"Ohh, hard words there…you really are acting like an adult, aren't you?"

"Shut up." And like that, Yang realized nothing between them had really changed. Not enough to divide them from each other, like Yang was afraid of earlier that day. "How was class?"

"Port was up today…" Ruby trailed, a guilty little note that made the elder sister laugh.

"You fell asleep again, didn't you?"

"I wasn't trying to!"

"To be fair, Pyrrha very nearly fell asleep too." Weiss to the rescue. "After that, it was back to back fights in combat arts with Goodwitch."

"That woman's a slave driver." Blake sighed. "I swear I could see her laughing behind that stupid podium of hers after she put four of the top ranked in the class up against second year team CFVY."

"Coco give them a run for their money?" Yang surmised.

"Never mind Coco!" Weiss spluttered. She was one of the first years tossed into the arena, and also one of the ones to have unfortunate luck. "Fox is not a person you want to cross."

"Honestly, it's Velvet that worries me." Blake admitted. "This might just be because of what we are…but…" The girl squinted, thinking how best to put it into human terms. Her thoughts on the matter were instinctual, scent based. Something that none of the other three would truly understand. "There's an air about her…her semblance is made for the intent to kill. Faunus who aren't…well, predatory…by nature, don't normally carry such a deadly semblance."

"Is that why you froze up when she attacked first?" Ruby asked, having watched that scuffle from the sidelines.

"That's the other thing." Blake wished, for just one moment, every human could have the sense that she had. Able to detect those into little changes in the air. Able to act on them. "She should at least be a little intimidated by me, she is in almost every other situation."

"Velvet is intimidated by everyone though." Yang broke in.

"She's aggressive in a fight. Zeroed in on me in a heartbeat." Blake shook her head. It was silly really, but it was the truth. "In our culture, it's just not normal to have someone like her going after someone like me. It threw me off more than just a little bit."

"You mean like a rabbit attacking a cat?" Yang asked, trying to understand as best as she could.

Blake nodded. It was the nearest thing Blake could get to a good explanation. "I mean, we aren't animals…so it isn't unheard of to go against instinct…but Velvet is of the personality to keep a low profile. It's just the best way to keep herself safe. In the area though, she's no slouch. With Coco at long rang, Weiss and I were cornered before we knew it."

"If it hadn't been for Pyrrha flanking to push Fox back, we would have been knocked out in under thirty seconds." Weiss completed with a shake of her head. "Let's face it, we looked like a bunch of washouts from feeder academies. It was a complete disaster."

"Isn't the fastest record for a sparring match half an hour? Well, for a four verse four match anyway?" Yang asked, now both hyped and really confused.

"Yep! So that's why we need to train even harder." Ruby announced, though with the sweat dripping down her body, it was obvious she was doing enough as it was.

Yang nodded, raising the speed higher.

It was nice to see the girls at it, diving into their training, and pushing each other along. She hoped it stayed that way. After a short time later, her run was in full swing. The door opened and closed again, revealing the members of NJPR, clad in workout attire, and ready to hit the mats. "Hey guys, mind if we join in?" The shortest and rowdiest of the group asked.

"That's a silly question! The room is set up for three teams." Ruby laughed, launching herself at Nora, giving her and the rest of the arrivals a quick hug. Then, she went back to training once more. "Anyone want to spot for me, please?"

"Only if you'll spot for me after." Nora exclaimed, but Pyrrha stepped in.

"I'll do the spotting for both of you." She told Ruby. It was an unspoken rule, but one that bore repeating. "You and Nora have a tendency to push yourselves way too hard otherwise."

"Well how else am I supposed to beat out Yang?" Nora asked, causing Ren to sigh.

He ignored her completely as he comforted himself with some casual stretches. He then launched himself into the punching bag held up by chains. It didn't last long before Blake joined him, and they both began attacking each other on the kickboxing mat. Jaune paired off with Weiss as the two of them took to core exercises. They added some mild weight training that could never match Ruby or Nora's own exuberance.

Yang watched it all in stride, feeling a little guilty that Pyrrha was taking her place spotting for Nora and Ruby, which Yang used to help with. Still, it wasn't really her place to be giving any of them an advantage. Instead, she enjoyed the banter flung around the room, taking comfort that small bit of normalcy.

Unfortunately, normalcy was relative, as the newest truth of Yang's life entered the room not a moment later. Clad in little more than what had to be a really supportive sports bra, white shirt, and a pair of black pants that hugged her frame snuggly, showing off every single asset the older woman carried. Yang had never seen her in such attire before, and it was clear that neither had the other inhabitants in the room.

"Professor Goodwitch?" Yang squeaked, not sure what to make of the new development.

"For the last time, Yang, call me Glynda." She retorted with the same composed demeanor as ever.

"Fine, Glynda then." The name tasted so strange falling from her lips, but not in a bad way. "What are you doing here?"

"The same as you, I'd imagine." The woman said as she stepped up over to the yoga mats.

"Never seen you here before." Nora blustered, as all eyes remained glued to the sight in front of them.

"Call it a passing interest." Glynda explained, eyes closed. "Some of the best first years in this school come here. Why? Everything is old and lackluster." It had been a question that played on Glynda's mind often. This was not the first group of students that favored this room, but, they were the first group of eight that seemed to function together as a total team...Yang's graduation didn't seem to change that.

Glynda Goodwitch never used this room before. In fact, teams Ruby and JNPR chose this room because it was the worst of the three. Not only was it the smallest, but all of the awesome facilities, like the pool and the proper dojo were located on the first floor. People left them alone here, and really that's all they wanted.

Glynda ignored the eyes burning into her. The white fluffy towel around her neck, and the water bottle in hand...it painted a picture that boarded on sinful. Yang loved to people watch…more than that, she loved to watch others during her workouts. She found the smooth motions of muscle rippling under soft, satin skin, to be entirely and completely erotic.

She forced her gaze away. It wouldn't due to be caught watching her new bunk mate, teammate, and apparently workout buddy. "Eh, that's not really a hard answer. It's 'cause this is about what my gym at home looked like, only a bit bigger. Stick with what you know."

"And we followed her." Ruby said happily. "We found out we could have fun up here too. No one around to give us weird looks, or complain if our forms get rusty."

"Nora followed Ruby." Jaune said exhaustedly as Weiss put him through his paces. "So, we got dragged along by Nora."

"Hey!" The indignant squawk wasn't as loud as it could have been, as Nora struggled to bench-press what was located on her bar. "Nothing…wrong…with a lil friendly rivalry."

Pyrrha stood at the ready, she knew the sound of that strained voice. Slowly and gently, she activated her semblance. "That would be a tie, girls." The redhead called, relieving Nora of the incredible burden that would have squashed a lesser person.

Glynda could only shake her head as she observed, mildly amused.

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story  
…**

Yang sighed deeply as she reclined back in bed that night. In less than forty-eighth hours, she had effectively upturned the very life she knew. Everything was strange to her now.

The familiar things became strangely awkward. Her hard training had paid off in full, and she was now doing the one thing she had set out to do…find her mother. Talk to her. She was even allowed to do it, because that was her current job. Something she was getting paid for.

That was all well and good, she supposed.

It didn't help that she was paired with Glynda though. The name still tingled on her tongue. Yang would be the first to admit her direct interest in the fairer gender. She would even say that she didn't mind her openness in the matter. She might not have shouted it from the rooftops, but if someone asked, she would tell…and ogle, and make her opinion very well know.

Among her peers, if she could still call them that, a few particular bits of eye candy always stuck out to her.

The first of which being the hard-to-get Weiss Schnee. That girl was the perfect package of innocence and vulgarity all rolled into one. Her sharp tongue and quick temper was always something that Yang found sexy, impossibly so. She would never say that, but there was just something about Weiss. Her confidence in her abilities more than made up what she lacked in assets. Even so, Yang had seen the girl naked in passing before, communal showers being what they were…

Weiss had nothing to be ashamed of. She was petite, but by no means difficult to glance at.

The second, unsurprisingly enough, was her own former partner. Blake Belladonna was everything a person wanted in a kink. From her sharp predatory gaze, to her bookish intellect. The latter of those two qualities stood out as an added bonus. Blake had a raging sexual drive, though she tried to hide it well. She had an amazing body too, which more than made up for the fact that Blake was a solitary person by nature. Blake was easy to flirt with, taking it all in stride. She was a fun friend, able to withstand Yang's playful antics. The blonde would be lying if she denied thinking about the cat eared girl in somewhat dirty ways.

Even so, they were partners and friends first and foremost. Yang's respect for both Weiss and Blake kept her from saying anything.

The third, distant contender in Yang's headspace was second year student Coco Adel. It went without saying that Yang was given a run for her money with that girl. Coco was in all ways difficult. Both hard to get, and flirty at the same time. She was the one in charge, and she made no bones about it. If ever there were a small, niggling little fantasy about being forced into submission, it was more surely Coco that took the stage. Coco lived, and battled on her own terms. Yang was sure that she would take to her relationships the same way.

Yang sighed, rolling over again.

If those three women in her head, playing havoc on her libido wasn't enough, then Glynda Goodwitch surely was. Tapping her fingers on her pillow in irritation, she tried once again to push the woman out of her mind. However, just knowing that Glynda was on the other side of the room, in some sort of nightie, well…it would make even a saint swoon…and swoon Yang did, as her eyes burned fire into that damn screen that separated them in the dead of night.

Flinging the covered off, muttering curses, she entered into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. This night called for a cold shower, one of the coldest in her life.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Second day of Blitz got moved up, this time it was another 10 hour spree.

 **Blitz Day 2, Writing Chunk 1**

 **Same Ole Story  
**

The life of a huntress was not always exciting. In fact, a good deal of it was paperwork and aggravation. Yang was starting to find that out. She sighed as she looked over the forms for damages caused by none other than Beacon students. She knew scuffles in the streets were bad news, but this?

"Woah…" She lamented, frowning as she saw the list of damages. Ruby's new team title RWB showed up alongside of JNPR. "That's a whole lot of cash, should have known Nora was involved, though." Then again, if she had been with the seven delinquents, she was sure part of the damages would have been caused by her own bluster as well.

"Those costs will come from the school's coffers." Glynda said quite unhappily, arms crossed as she clutched her riding crop in one hand. "They'll pay dearly for this one. Honestly, the nerve of those kids. What were they thinking, taking on two members of the White Fang all on their own?"

"They're just children, Glynda." He soothed. "We were young once too."

"White Fang?" Yang's lilac eyes darkened. She knew exactly why. "What kind of fight are we talkin' about here? Was it just a street rumble or…" She didn't dare think it was a planned assault. Blake and the others knew better than that.

"We suspect it was just some sort of misunderstanding." The grey haired man said from behind his desk. "However, you have been reporting that the streets were free of any White Fang membership. It does beg the question of what exactly sparked this particular disagreement."

"Are you sure it was White Fang members they were fighting?" Yang asked, to which Ozpin nodded. "Freaky...well okay then. I don't know anything about that exact fight." Still, she had a newfound appreciation to Ozpin. A very angry store clerk had barked at the headmaster over broken windows and cracked sidewalk pavement, and that was only one phone call of many. Then, Yang began to laugh. "Bet it was Nora who smashed the pavement…"

"I have no doubts." Glynda retorted, only to have Yang snicker at her. "I fail to see what's so funny about this."

"The lack of damages. Come on, you know those teams just as well as I do." Yang said. She had done so much worse, and would likely do so in the future. "Besides, they were in the right to defend themselves."

"We will pay for the damages, of course." Ozpin nodded, though he tented his fingers over his desk. "What I find so utterly baffling, is that team RWB seems to attract undue interest from particular originations. You wouldn't happen to know why, would you, Yang?"

The blonde looked away. Of course she knew why, but she couldn't tell Ozpin the truth. Then again, she couldn't lie about it either.

"Come on, Ozpin." Yang said with a soft smile. "Even if I did know, which I can't confirm either way…I wouldn't be able to tell you. The flow of information goes both ways."

"I have my own assumptions about the matter." He was even in his speech. Careful in his conduct. He didn't wish to make an enemy out of Yang, nor divulge too much of what he knew to be truth. "I should have you know, no one enters this school without having some truths about them revealed. Even those with perfectly constructed lies. The origin of ones upbringing, for example, can't stay completely hidden from the faculty for long."

He slid one file forward, Blake Belladonna.

"We know." Glynda said, turning to Yang. More and more she was beginning to understand how Yang thought, how she worked. "She was involved in too many televised rallies not to have been caught on camera. Ears and all."

Yang felt tempted to open it, but that temptation was crushed by her guilt. She didn't need to see what was inside. She didn't want to. "If you know, then why not just ask Blake?"

"I want her to feel safe at this academy." Ozpin replied simply. That's really all there was to it. "As far as Beacon is concerned, Blake Belladonna is an exceptional student, part of an exceptional team, and she will become a wonderful huntress." Lowering his dark glasses, he smiled just a bit. "I'm asking you, because you uphold a responsibility to protect all students in this academy. As a huntress, that is always your first priority. What are they getting themselves into?"

Yang blinked, and shook her head. "Do you trust me?"

"As much as any newly appointed huntress under my command." Ozpin nodded.

"Keep looking the other way." Yang said to him. "For Blake's sake, just keep pretending this isn't happening."

"But it is happening." Glynda rebuked. "And you've been involved in these antics in the past. Surely you know the danger. There aren't any minor risks here."

"Blake runs away when she feels cornered." Yang let worry edge her voice. "Get involved in this too much, she's going to freak out. Last time she ran off, it was for an entire weekend. After we realized she wasn't coming back, it took twelve straight ours of patrolling the streets to find her, and when we did…" Yang shrugged. "That was after the stuff at the dock happened."

"I am still not fully aware of the events that transpired." Ozpin murmured, raising an eyebrow. "Police reports were tampered with. Although, I'm sure I know who _exactly_ pulled the wool over my eyes. It's not a single student to blame for that, I'm afraid. Merely an old friend." He brushed the matter aside. "You can see my concern, as it stands."

"Don't look at me. Only a hand full of people were actually there. I wasn't one of them." Yang knew that would be pointless to try finding out. Ruby wouldn't say a word of it. Yang had all but begged to be told. Ruby didn't say a word. She had stopped asking Blake as well.

"I see." Ozpin nodded. "Well that will be that, then. I'll let sleeping dogs lay, for now."

"You can't be serious." Glynda all but bellowed.

"I am indeed." The man told her without conveying any further thoughts. "We will continue to observe as we have always done. I find this to be the best course of action."

She rolled her eyes, but turned on her heel to storm out.

Ozpin slid forward a wad of bills, nodding to Yang. "You should follow after her."

"I dunno about that…she looked kind of pissy."

"Everyone has a place, and her place is to fawn over the students. As a result, she worries too much." He said, a knowing little smile gracing his lips. "You make a good pair, the two of you. I'll leave it to you to brighten her mood."

"You're just afraid to do it yourself." Yang accused, but surprisingly enough, Ozpin nodded.

"Quite." He tapped Yang's hand once for emphasis. "I don't intend to aggravate her, but, it seems I have. Everyone has a place, and mine just so happens to be behind this desk. I trust you'll ease her worries. You are the one most capable."

Yang didn't fully believe that. The tension there was something that built over a period of time. Not just a few hours, or a really bad day.

She exited the double doors, payment in hand that she was to deliver the following day. First thing was first though. Where in the world would Glynda storm off too? She was an overly responsible person, Yang knew that above all else. This narrowed down the opportunities, and she quickly decided to go to their dorm room. She found the woman already buried deeply into her work.

Still fuming, the elder huntress was busy pouring over assignments that needed to be returned to the students. That was the only thing Glynda cared about until an unfamiliar weight settled over her shoulders.

"No need to be _Yangry_. I'm sure he didn't mean to be an airhead."

"What do you think you're doing?" Glynda asked, as she felt Yang's hands working away at stiff shoulders.

"We are partners, right?" Yang asked. "That's what you keep saying."

"We are that…" Glynda said quietly under breath. "At least you've started to take the position under advisement."

"So…" Yang, honestly wasn't sure how to word her next thought, so she went with the flow. "Partners look after each other. By the way, do you like, I dunno…uh, not go to the medics often enough? Your neck is one big knot."

Rolling her shoulders to get Yang to release her, Glynda sighed. "It's quite alright. Hardly anything you need to worry about."

"Uh, I kind of, erm…" Yang lifted an eyebrow. "You do realize that if anyone knows anything about shoulder injuries, it's me, right?"

"What is this about, Yang?" That icy question was gentled by the gaze that met her.

Yang wasn't exactly sure what she was supposed to say. Cheering up the older woman wasn't like cheering up Blake, or even Ruby. The closest thing she had to compare to was Weiss, and even she wasn't a very a very good comparison. Yang began to pace, slowly, back and forth. "Sooo, bike ride?"

"Excuse me?"

"Not a fan of that, huh…okay, no problem." Yang thought about it some more. "How about a movie, or grabbing some chow down by the boardwalk?"

Glynda's eyes narrowed from behind the thin rim of her glasses. "Ozpin put you up to this."

"No, I put myself up to this." Yang said, her thumb poking into her own chest for good measure. "Okay, okay, my former teammates put a big stick up your ass. Then Ozpin crammed it up there even more. I totally get it." Yang finally sighed. "It seems we're really good at that. Trust me, happens all the time."

Exasperated, Glynda pulled off her glasses and rubbed at her eyes. She could feel a migraine coming on. "Your crass interpretation of what might be ailing me aside, what makes you think for a moment I wish to continue this discussion?"

"Been there, done that, got the t-shirt…" When Yang thought about it, she grinned. "Well, actually lost the t-shirt, but you get the idea." Sitting down on her bed cross legged, she started running her fingers through her long mane of hair. "I know it's eating you, just like it's eating at the rest of us. At Blake, Weiss…Ruby wants to ask for help so bad, but she knows she can't."

Glynda chose to risk it, and hazard an assumption. "It seems to me that you know a great deal…"

"Eh…kind of…"

"More than you were willing to tell Ozpin." Glynda said quietly. "The White Fang are a threat to national security. One of many threats inside the walls of this city. With hideouts dotting the landscape. We do what we can, but without the proper intelligence, we can only do so much. You are well aware that they are not to be trifled with."

"Yeah, so what?" Yang asked.

"It's dangerous." Glynda prompted.

"So is my mother." Yang started, ticking a whole list off in her fingers. "So are the Grimm. So are street thugs and robbers. So are other hunters." Yang, nonplused, flopped down across her bed. She eyed the ceiling. "I'm not going to rat out Blake…but if you really want to know what those three get up to, there is another way."

"And what way, exactly, would that be?"

"Get to know 'em." Yang laughed than. "Don't just get mad when Nora smashes something, or when Ruby flies through a window. Teams are like family…or, well, at least they should be like family."

"You sound a lot like your father when you say that." Glynda told her quietly, picking up her glasses and resuming her work. "Summer Rose too."

"Makes sense, she is the one I remember being around." Yang explained. She couldn't remember Raven. She had photos of the woman, but nothing else. "When I was really little, I just thought that she was my mom…didn't figure out the truth till later." Squinting at something unseen, she frowned a bit. Not unhappily, but deep in thought. "I think that's why the team, why they…we…worked so well. We wanted the answers to our questions bad enough. We'd risk our lives to get 'em."

 **…** **  
Same Ole Story  
…**

Yang was a punch first and ask questions later kind of girl. It always worked, and sticking with what she knew was another little motto she clung onto. Not because she was afraid to try new things. Far from it. She loved new things, thrills, adventure. It was just that, not everyone did. Most people liked safe, secure, clear little details. They wanted the normal life, with normal goals.

Yang was okay with it, she just didn't want that for herself.

As flighty as she was, she was also an analyst. No matter if Glynda liked it or not, Yang was starting to get a clear picture of the kind of woman she was. Glynda didn't seem to appreciate it though, especially not one afternoon when they were both on patrol together.

"Look, all I'm saying, is that you don't get into this kind of work if all you want to do is teach." Yang replied in-between licks of her ice cream purchase. "There are regular schools for that."

"Teaching is what I've always wanted to do." Glynda spoke, not quite understanding why Yang felt the urge to buy the snack. Yang had claimed it was to fit in, but the elder woman just couldn't see the truth of it. Yang was doing anything but that. Sticking out like a sore thumb. She donned a single form fitted suit of fire red and black leather, zipped down to her belly button, and that flash of Yellow across her breasts wasn't doing her any favors in the modesty department.

"Oh, come on." That playful snippiness was back in full force. "You were a class A huntress way before Beacon. There are still posters of you standing over hordes of dead grim, and you couldn't have been much older than me when they were taken." Another slow lick of the ice cream later, and Yang smirked once more. "People like that, they don't get into hunting just to be a teacher."

"I suppose I was a bit spirited…at one time."

"So, what happened?" Yang asked again. "Why give up a life of that to keep yourself nailed to Beacon?"

"There comes a time in every person's life when they get tired of doing that. They want to settle down, enjoy the relative peace that these cities provide." Glynda said distantly. "There is something to be said for that."

"Dare you to say that to my uncle." Yang snorted.

"That man is a very rare breed of impossible." Glynda told her companion. "The moment he listens to reason, I'll eat my cape."

"He might, just to see that happen." The mental image of Glynda gnawing on the fabric that donned her back made Yang pause. The sight would be uncouth, and unladylike. The exact opposite of the well kempt woman that Yang had come to respect. "I'd pffft," A moment later, and raucous laughter filled the air. "Good god, I'd pay good money to see that."

"It would be a sight to behold." Glynda offered, enjoying the image of the younger girl, doubled over and struggling to stand.

"You should relax more often. Makes you easier to work with." Yang noted as she calmed herself and continued to eye the streets for any questionable activity. "Students at Beacon would probably like it better too."

"It's not my job to be friends with the students." Glynda murmured. "It's my job to ensure they all become exemplary people."

"Annnnnd that's what we call a buzz kill."

"I've sworn an oath to ensure the safety of others, to maintain peace and prosperity. In order to do this, we have to instill those standards into the minds of the future." As if thinking on something, brushing away an old memory. She let her gaze drift to the shops, and the shoppers within. "My goal is not to remake the hunters of yesterday, but to craft stronger, better hunters and huntresses for tomorrow."

Yang said nothing, merely continuing to eat. She finished her delicious treat in silence, and together, they quietly finished the patrol. It had to have been an hour without words, but Yang had been thinking, and thinking very hard. Not about her old team, or the students. Not about the people, or the city. Even the Grimm, and all of the other threats in her life seemed minuscule. Her mind was on one detail. Something meaningless for most, but that Yang detected all too well.

A tiny note that had been in Glynda's voice. A lilt that hadn't called attention to itself, but seemed to be important all the same.

"Huh, think you're looking at it the wrong way." Yang finally said as she stopped at a dead end, a dust store punctuating a nearby city street, forming it into a cull-de-sack. "Today, this moment, right here, right now, that's what it's about. Never mind tomorrow when a Grimm could come barreling through the city within seconds. Got to live in the moment. It's the only way we'll even see tomorrow, ya know?"

Pushing her glasses back to their proper spot, Glynda could only offer a soft smile at the logic. "Perhaps." She said, though it seemed far too whimsical for her tastes. "It all remains to be seen."

"Well, yeah." Yang nodded. "That's why you just gotta stop trying to see it, and just live it."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Fingers through her hair, a half promises, barely there confessions that washed away with the morning's gentle light. Memories that she couldn't fully recall, and distant laughter that made her wish for easier days. All of it held sentiment, all of it was important…and all of it flooded back when she least expected it to. Yang was just good at hiding it. Being the big sister, sometimes meant pushing your own tears away...

...letting someone else do the crying for them both.

Yang found herself enraptured with the stars in the sky. Not because of their beauty, or even the constellations she could point to and call by name. It wasn't about that. Truthfully, why she was on the rooftop of the student dorm was a selfish. By her side, the heiress of the Schnee family fortune sat, complaining about the great many things she couldn't seem to fix.

Yang's departure had caused more upset among the team that Yang had known, and now all of it was coming out.

"And of course, she takes Blake's side." Weiss continued, regaling Yang on the latest fight. "My own partner, and she just doesn't seem to get it! Doesn't she understand that we're down maybe our strongest fighter? We can't go on the offensive as much as we used to, we need to work more defensively than ever before. Neither of them understand that."

Yang though on this. "Well, our motto has always been that high offense was our best defense."

"We also had you!" Weiss countered. "Yang, we don't have your semblance. Tossing ourselves into the line of fire is going to get someone killed."

"But, Blake does have her clones." Yang considered, more to herself than anything. "She can still rush into the front of the battle, just as she's always done. It doesn't really matter if I'm there or not."

"Yes it does!" Weiss bit her lower lip. "She has speed, so does Ruby…but raw power?" Weiss shook her head. "That was completely and entirely your job. Ruby relied on you to take every hit, knowing you'd grow stronger because of it. We could rush in because we knew it too. Ruby and Blake could get out of the way fast enough, and you'd protect me if for some reason I couldn't." Weiss could feel her own inadequacy. If only she could summon up her own companion like Winter could. "I'm a glass cannon compared to that, and my aura isn't nearly as powerful. I can't take your place, none of us can."

"You guys are strong." Yang shrugged. "You'll figure it out."

"Weiss!"

The call made them both turn their heads to the familiar voice. "If I'm not allowed to go running off every time something big comes up, what makes you think you can?"

"Woah, Blake…" Yang said jumping between the two of them. "Easy kitty-kitty."

"Don't call me that." Blake warned dangerously. Her ears were twitching under her bow in annoyance. One that only Yang could ever achieve. "This is our fight. Stay out of it."

"Nope." Yang said as she slung an arm around both Blake and Weiss. "We're all friends…and _friends_ don't try to rip each other in half."

"Let them." Ruby said, having finally sighed in relief knowing Weiss was safe. She was looking like a tornado had hit her. That said something, as she was normally the cause of one, not the victim. "They want to fight, let them fight. I can't take it anymore. Neither one of them will listen to what I say anyway."

"Ruby…" Yang murmured, shocked, as she looked to both of the girls still trapped in a bear hug.

The young girl was now grabbing at her cloak, looking down to her feet, as tears threated to overtake her eyes. "Is this…one of those call you things…because I really…really can't…I mean, I...I just…If…they…" Ruby dissolved into a fit of sobs, and Yang was over there in a heartbeat.

Yang held ruby tightly, giving both Weiss and Blake both a look that had never before been aimed at them. She put one palm over Ruby's exposed ear, as the other one pressed against her chest, muffling the world. Not to mention Yang's quiet, but very clear rage. A red flicker in her eyes let them know, this wasn't a game. "You fix this." She said to them quietly. She didn't want Ruby to hear the snarl in her voice. "I don't care how. But you fix this, or _I_ _will_."

With a hard sigh, she pulled away, but still held onto her little sister. "Come on Ruby." She said without even thinking twice. "We're gonna ask JNPR if you can crash with them tonight."

It was an ordeal after that, getting Ruby to actually agree to the idea. Even after Yang dragged her there, and even after she pounded on the door, Ruby still felt like she was causing trouble. Like she didn't belong here, in front of JNPR's door with a pajama clad Ren looking on sleepily. "Yang…? Ruby?"

"Yang, no." Ruby hissed.

"She needs a place to stay tonight." Yang said, dragging Ruby out from behind her. "There's a pissing match going on, and I don't want her involved anymore than she already has been."

"Is everything okay, Ruby?" Pyrrha asked, having come to the door, clad in her own sleeping attire.

"It's…no…but…" She didn't want to burden another team.

"Weiss and Blake get like this, and when they do, there's no stopping them." Yang explained, knowing the two girls could be like oil and water. "They'll sort it out, they always do…until then…" Her eyes flicked to Ruby.

"Say no more, it's a sleepover!" It took Nora's boundless energy to scoop Ruby up into a huge bear hug, the only one that could rival Yang's own for exuberance. "Ren, Pancakes!"

"Nora…" He said, looking to the clock. "It's past midnight…"

"Perfect time for a snack!" The carrot haired girl argued, giving him a look.

"She can stay as long as she likes." Jaune said to Yang. "Hope this all blows over soon though." He admitted more quietly.

"Yeah me too." Yang knew it would…eventually. Until then, she could only do her best not to let Ruby get caught in the crossfire. "Thanks guys."

"Our pleasure." Pyrrha said, though, by the looks of it, it was more Nora's pleasure if anything. She was already following Ren around with his apron, and that only meant havoc for the kitchen to follow. "Have a good night, Yang."

"Yeah." Yang pushed back some guilt as she forced herself to let go. "You too."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

When she finally arrived to her own room, she flopped down on her own bed, a muffled curse was the only thing that came to mind.

"Are you quite alright?" Glynda asked, never having seen Yang in such a deflated mood.

The bowler lifted her head from her pillow, frowning deeply with a scowl. It wasn't aimed at anything, or anyone. It merely existed. "Don't be surprised if Ruby cuts class with Nora…or if Blake ends up ditching out too." With that, she put her face promptly back into her pillow and let loose an angry sound.

"What happened?"

"Said all I'm gonna say."

"Is anybody hurt?"

"Not yet." Yang muttered grumpily.

"Does someone plan on hurting another?"

Yang flipped herself over, arm over her eyes. "Look, putting a Faunus and a Schnee on the same team is asking for trouble. Putting a child in charge of that team, and there goes the control." Yang let out an excused hiss. "Crap like this happens sometimes, it'll be fine…it always is."

"How…fine…is fine?"

Yang sat up. That was a hell of a question coming from Glynda. With a frown she issued one of her own. "Why do you always freak out the second something bad happens?"

"I would hardly call my inquiry something as blatant as 'freaking out'. I'm merely expressing concern."

"Right, but it is." Yang said then. "You freak out any time someone does something you don't like. Kind of want to know why."

"They're my students." Glynda sighed. "It's my job."

"And it's driving you crazy that I'm not dishing out the goods." Yang commented. "Why do you care, really?"

Glynda lifted two fingers to her temple, running them in a small circle. After some though, she came to sit down beside Yang. "I have my reasons. Being a faculty member of this school forbids me from speaking of confidential files involving students. Your old team, as you know, comes equipped with a particular history. When that history crosses into particular interests, one might say that I cross business with personal life."

"Okay…spill." Yang said, catching on perfectly. "Why are you keeping Ruby under your thumb?"

"I promised Qrow." Glynda explained. "Neither he, nor your father for that matter, were entirely convinced Ruby was ready for Beacon. I admit, I held the same worry, but Ozpin has his ways…" Glynda shrugged then. "Needless to say, during the initiation exams, we made sure that her batch of first year students included those we at Beacon knew we had to keep a special eye on. Each of you for your own reasons, of course…but all of that particular group were students we knew to monitor closely."

"You dun fucked up that one." Yang laughed.

"We hardly expected that the four of you would end up paired together." Glynda surmised, thinking back, she shook her head. It was a very absurd assumption. "In fact, I was quiet sure that Ruby would fall into a weaker team formation. Instead, both Ruby and Jaune, ended up with students far more advanced than they were ready for. Then again, I hardly expected that Ren and Nora would work so thoroughly together."

"Talk about history." Yang scoffed.

"We hadn't been informed at the time of the exam." In that one admittance, a world of unspoken truths hung overhead. "Imagine my surprise when I found out they'd been looking after each other for years."

Yang nodded, feeling a little better as she let her fingers start twirling in her long tresses of gold. "Right, kay…sooo…here's how I know it'll be fine. Ruby is really east to upset. She's determined, and strong, a total powerhouse when she puts her mind to something…underneath all of that, she's still just a kid though."

"That's not instilling very much confidence."

"Hey, it should." Yang shrugged, knowing that she couldn't easily explain. "Blake and Weiss, they try to see her as a leader. Even when they screw that up, they really do care about her. Plus, they don't completely hate each other, they're actually friends. They just don't see eye-to-eye, and they're both so opinionated that they just sort of…explode."

"And you don't feel as if team mediation is in order?"

"No…they'll fix it, or I'll fix it…and they really don't like when I fix things."

"How's Ruby? Where is she now?"

"With JNPR, where else?" Yang asked. "Look, like I said, don't worry about it."

"I'm going to worry about it, that's part of my job description." Glynda said, realizing Yang wasn't going to give her anything new. "However, since I know this is going on, I'll try to remember to be a little bit lenient. I'm sure there will be plenty of flagrant disregard for school policies."

"I'm going to hit the shower and crash out, it's been a hell of a night." Yang aimed to do just that.

The hot water had felt amazing on her skin. Plus, she could be left alone to her own thoughts. She had many, too many, and they sunk into her. Each one a little deeper than the last.

Who was Glynda Goodwitch, really?

That was the most prominent question in Yang's mind. There was a story there. Buried under protocol and reservation, a powerful, sexy, independent huntress lay dormant. She clawed at the edges of the woman's mask. There was more to her, more than anyone might ever be given the opportunity to know. Yang wanted to. To pull away at that prim and proper mask, and see the true woman that rested, tormented underneath.

Yang was as sure of it. That this woman's path and hers…that they were closer than either one of them wanted to admit.

Slamming the water off, she toweled herself dry, and without any trace of modesty she opened the door and sauntered out. Naked as the day she was born.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I didn't have time to post this during day two. Posting it up now, before day three happens...

 **Blitz Day 2, Part 2**

 **Same Old Story**

She had no idea what drove her to do it. She could only guess what absentminded logic turned in the back of her mind. She was crazy to deem the action a good idea. She should have stopped, but instinct didn't work that way. Her feelings drifted to the fragments of things she wanted to say, to ask, but couldn't formulate the words for.

Those passing wisps of action that took root in the past few days, so sudden and inexplicable, even for Yang herself.

"What do you think you're doing?" Glynda asked, eyes wide as she caught the supple backside of Beacon's own twin fisted terror.

"Getting comfy." Yang said, looking over her shoulder. She slipped on a piece of cloth that could hardly be called a robe. "That a problem?"

Glynda felt her mouth run dry. "No, not exactly."

"Well, that's good then." Yang said with a shrug. "If it bothers you, I really don't have to wear this. I just like to. Feels good, reminds me I'm not just a huntress."

"If you say so." Glynda said aloud, but inwardly she grumbled as she forced her eyes to return to her work. She was busy writing up another test, and aura manipulation was by no means an easy subject to overcome. "Although, why you would choose to wear something so entirely overt is completely beyond my comprehension."

"Hmm." Yang sounded, before finding her courage. "Hey, Glynda?"

"What?" The woman almost snapped, remembering at the last moment to reign in her voice. She regretted lifting her eyes, and mentally berated herself for doing so.

That robe was pure sin disguised as silk. The fabric, a mix of soft reds, oranges and yellows was a gift Yang had purchased for herself before entering Beacon's walls. She rarely purchased clothing that lacked utility, and this particular piece would never be worn outside of her own room. Of this, Yang was sure. It rested high on her thighs. Even closed it made her ample bosom stand out perfectly.

Pale globes of her slightly sun kissed skin nestled between the delicate fabrics, an invitation that would make even the most stalwart man weep. Holy men would question the higher powers that be, if only to once glimpse the gifts underneath.

Yang wondered, idly enough, if it would do the same for her roommate. She didn't want to come right out and ask Glynda's preferences, but had discerned enough small hints by now to know the woman wasn't strictly heterosexual.

"Can we talk?" Yang voiced, laying across her bed once more. "Like really talk?"

"I'm listening." Glynda voice, but quickly averted her eyes again. "What would you like to talk about?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you." Yang said, her eyes held a spark of mischief that her voice lacked. Curiosity glimmering in the depths. "Look, I get the feeling that you know more about me than you let on…more about my past or something. I just want to know what it is. That's all."

Glynda closed down her work, setting aside the scroll that held all of the documentation. "Is this truly something you feel the need to broach, and while dressed like?"

"Uh, did you forget the posters?" Yang asked, pointing to her wall. More than several women were in erotic positions, all of them tasteful, but none of them entirely innocent. "I'm hardly likely to be offended." There, she hinted at it, made it obvious, left it hanging out in the open. Glynda could do with the statement what she pleased. "Besides, you're showing off quite a bit of leg there yourself, you know."

Glynda looked at her own attire. A deep purple, flowing nightgown. It had a high neckline, but a scandalous cut along the thigh, which was indeed showing quite a bit of skin. It would take most people restraint not to ogle. Yang wasn't doing it outwardly, but she was indeed doing it. That only made Glynda all the more aware of the temptress on the other side of the room. She had no idea just what Yang thought she was doing, and part of her was terrified to find out, but she turned out the lights, hoping to preserve some level of modesty as she crawled into her own bed.

At least with the darkness of the room, Yang wouldn't be able to see her blush. "You are very much your mother's daughter…interests included." Glynda finally murmured sardonically.

"She liked...well...likes women too?" Yang asked before catching herself.

"Hard to say what she found preferable." Glynda murmured, trying to think back a fair bit. "While I wasn't particularly close to her, I can say there was once a time she was equally as spirited as you. Perhaps just as troublesome too."

"What happened?"

Glynda wished she knew the answer to that herself. "Life, I believe."

"That's really not much of an answer."

"It's the only guess I have."

Yang turned on her side, though Glynda couldn't see her. Knowing this, she lit a ball of heat in her palm, emitting a glow. "I don't understand what you mean." Yang said softly, her voice gentled by her confusion. "What was so bad? I just don't understand how a person can think that way. Leaving family behind...friends...how could anyone turn their back on everything."

"Put out that fire..." Glynda demanded, not because it was dangerous, but because she thinks she could keep a polite tongue in her mouth.

"Fine..." Yang said, extinguishing it. "So...you gonna tell me?"

Glynda breathed a sigh of relief. She heard the rustling of fabric, but it stopped moments later. With a doleful sigh she didn't know she was holding, she continued with great difficulty. "What you need to understand, is that times were not as peaceful as they are now. Rebellions and revolutions took place before you were born, and Raven was hardly older than you at the time. Something dulled the hope in her eyes, transformed it into something else…we all ignored it, of course, but what else were we to do?"

"Dunno, stop her?" Yang offered.

"It wasn't that simple." Glynda rolled her eyes, but her memories were transfixed to those distant times. "Many of us were hardly any better."

"So, then how'd she end up with my dad?"

"He never told you?"

"Uh, come on." Yang muttered distantly. "My dad, talking to me about that? Get real. For the longest time, he went on pretending Summer Rose was my real mom."

"For all intents and purposes, she was." Glynda rebuked.

"You know what I mean." Yang ranted. "He lied."

"Semantics." Glynda shot back. "Summer Rose _was_ your mother, Yang."

"Stepmother."

"A distinction without a difference…" Glynda didn't know why it upset her. To hear Yang claim the opposite hurt. "She was there the day you were born, held you in her arms less than an hour after the fact. On the day Raven left, she refused to let you out of her sight. She bottle fed you, rocked you to sleep, and changed your diapers, sang you songs, and kept your father's head on straight. Summer Rose loved you more than you will every truly know."

"I love her too, but that's not what I'm asking here." Yang pressed. "You've got to know that, so just tell me…"

"Raven was not…forthcoming about her relationship with him…shall we say." Glynda murmured quietly. "I do remember the day you were born though. Qrow got drunk, as usual. He paraded you around the entire hospital, and the area outside the hospital, and down the street. Everyone in Patch knew you were born by the time he was done. Eventually, he was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct, but that was only after he made a fool of himself."

"He didn't actually make it that far, did he?"

"Indeed he did." Glynda was still baffled by how he had managed that. "Summer Rose and Ozpin thought it was hilarious. Those of us chasing your uncle down the street, however, were far less amused."

That fire came back, soft light flickering along the walls, and reflecting wet lilac eyes. "Why did she leave?"

"Yang...fire..."

"No." Shaken steel, wavering and creaking her voice. "Look at me..."

Glynda did, taken aback by that gaze. Softly, ever so much so, she whispered. "I don't know."

"You have to know something." Yang murmured, as her semblance dissipated.

"I wish I did. She never said a word about why." Glynda finally explained. "At least not to me, but, that was merely her way. Raven and Qrow aren't too dissimilar. They both have the tendency to push people away. Raven merely chose to do so in a manner that separated herself from everyone, including you."

Another rustle of fabric later, and soft footfalls marked Yang's approach. The bed sinking with her weight as she leaned heavily in the headboard that Glynda had been sitting against. "Did you love her?"

"Yang, this is hardly appropriate…"

"Did. You. Love. Her?"

"How could I?" Glynda asked then, realizing there was a desperation in Yang's voice that was caused by years of separation. Years of questions that no one had ever answered. Damage that would never be undone unless someone unraveled the tightly packaged history that could only belong to the Xiao Long family. "She was…she is an exemplary fighter. I respected that, but it was little more than that."

"Kay…" Yang said, almost too quietly. "So, I'm not her. Not ever gonna be her."

"I never thought that for a second…"

"I feel like you all look at me, and…well, you see her." Yang murmured. "Like I'm this person who…who'll follow her footsteps one day. I don't even know what she did, but, it's like I'm a criminal already." Her forehead rested on Glynda's shoulder. An action that came from emotional exhaustion, and fear. Fear of what she might see if she looked deep enough, if she pressed for more answers. Yang wasn't a coward, but this…this wasn't what she expected to find. "I always thought I took after dad. Had his fighting style and all, but that's not true, is it? You guys…you…and Ozpin…you don't see that, do you?"

She didn't know what that something had been, but it most certainly wasn't this...

"The resemblance is a bit uncanny." Glynda admitted slowly. "What are you expecting to find, what good is there to digging all of this up?"

"I don't know…maybe nothing…maybe it'll be bad…really, really bad." Yang muttered between gritted teeth. Shaken by the intensity of her own cluelessness. "I just know I've gotta find something. I need something." She shook her head, still pressed to Glynda's shoulder. "That's why I can't get Ruby involved anymore. Don't know what I'll find, and I don't know if I'll be able to handle it once I do…but if I didn't at least try…" Her fingers came up, clinging onto that purple fabric.

"Yang…"

"No!" They were eye-to-eye once more.

It wasn't lilac that Glynda saw. It was red. Fading in and out with every blink. Speechless to that, unsure of what to say in the face of a person who truly, honestly, looked every bit like Raven in that single moment. In the dark room, Yang's blonde hair didn't stand out, but her crimson eyes certainly did. Her scowl of determination swallowed her in a way that only Raven could ever pull off…but there was insecurity there too.

With no words to speak, Glynda did the only thing she could think of to do, lifting her thumb to brush away a single stray tear that lingered on Yang's cheek. Yang pulled away then, as if she'd been burned, and her lilac color returned fully once more.

"I won't live in her shadow. I won't be that person." Yang murmured, this time more evenly. More aware of what she wanted to say, and how to say it. "I'm not a victim and I don't want to be looked at with pity every time someone says her name." She wouldn't live that way. She refused to live that way. "I need to see Raven. I need to know who she is, and what she represents to me. Only I can determine that. Not anyone else."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Glynda Goodwitch was known for her insight. Her ability to have a keen sense about people around her. She prided herself on being able to expect the unexpected. To be one step ahead of any mind game, battle field, or daily hiccup that was expected to occur in a place like Beacon.

With that firmly in mind, if anyone had told her she would wake up one day with Yang Xiao Long in her bed, nestled beside her, sharing a pillow…well, the idea was outright blasphemous. Completely and utterly impossible. Yet, that very human warmth was exactly what she felt. She tried to relax and take a breath. Rubbing her eyes, she searched for her glasses that had somehow gotten misplaced before she'd fallen asleep.

Yang had all but demanding to be allowed to sleep by her side.

The entirely alien concept was at first overruled, but Yang had her ways of worming her way into bed…the threat of depriving them both of much needed rest was enough to get Glynda to agree. Now that it was seven in the morning, and three hours of rest had been obtained, it was time to greet the day. It was not nearly enough sleep, but, it would have to be enough. Glynda's first class started at nine.

Prying herself out of the brawler's hold, she slipped into the bathroom to take a shower. She fully expected Yang to sleep in, but, Yang was awake and sitting cross-legged among the sheets when Glynda returned.

"Morning…" The exhausted girl mumbled…

Glynda was already dressed, her hair done in its signature braded style, and ready to go to breakfast. She paused as her eyes caught a glimpse of pink. "Yang, your robe…"

"Hm? Oh…" Looking down, she frowned and adjusted the obvious wardrobe malfunction before scratching her head idly. "Kay…"

"Not a morning person, are you?" Glynda could clearly see the answer as Yang rubbed at sleepy eyes.

A half grunt was all that she offered in a way of reply. Yang was the very picture of inelegance, smacking her dry lips together. A long and drawn out yawn opened her mouth wide. She didn't even try to stifle it as she stretched, popping her back in several places. It was hard to believe that this was the very same woman who could be a temptress at the drop of a hat.

"Patrol doesn't start until noon." Glynda reminded her, which was all the encouragement Yang needed to grab the covers and snuggle back down into the warm bed. "Don't forget to eat breakfast."

Another grunt, and Glynda left her be, still shaking her head in befuddlement the entire time.

Yang didn't wake up until a few hours later, when the midmorning sun was macing her eyes. With another sleepy yawn, she glanced around the room, the memory of last night coming back to her. Faintly, she could smell the gentle perfume Glynda wore. It lingered on this side of the room. On the pillows, among the sheets…that soft scent that was as much soothing as it was something else.

Yang had caught a whiff of it last night too, but her mind hadn't been on that. Now though, she remembered why her mind and mouth ran away with her. Why she pushed the questions, asked over and over, and pulled the information she needed. It was hard, she had to admit. Licking her lips, biting down of the niggling irritation she felt at her own weakness, she sprang from the bed and started her day.

Patrol was at noon, but she had a few hours before that, and once she was ready, she stormed down the hall. First thing was first, check on her sister. At this time of the day, it was Port's class. She looked in the window of his stadium seating class room. She saw Blake on one side of Ruby, and Weiss on the other. They were all focused on the class, JNPR not too far away.

For now, that was good enough, she'd settle with it.

Next, she dealt with a list of complaints that had come in during the night. Grimm were known to fly overhead during the midnight hours, but most of the time they ignored the city entirely. Even so, sightings poured in, and it was the job of hunters and huntresses to examine each case and determine the risk. She did that quickly, nothing appeared out of the normal ranges, and no damages had been blamed on Grimm activity.

There _was_ a complaint about vigilante justice, but Yang would have to let Ozpin deal with that himself. She made a note to send him that report, exiting the mission room. Grabbing a snack by the vending machine, her next task was to locate Glynda. From eleven in the morning to one in the afternoon she had a prep-period. No students, no interruptions. She pushed through the door, and walked down the long path of steps, across the battle area. On the other side was a shielded area.

Yang passed by the barrier easily. It was the one thing keeping Glynda's desk safe from projectiles and aura based attacks.

"She finally wakes…" Glynda said quietly in greeting.

"Been up awhile." Yang said, depositing her rear-end on one of the corners nearest Glynda. "Need to talk to ya, and need to do it before things get really weird."

"This is hardly the time."

"There isn't ever going to be a good time."

"There are certainly better ones than this."

"Maybe, but I'm not going to sit on my butt and twiddle my fingers. I don't like playing the nervous little girl who doesn't know how to handle herself." She grabbed the desk chair and pulled, dragging Glynda along with it. "What happened last night is a thing, and I don't want to ignore it."

"It's something that shouldn't be repeated." Glynda rebuked, kicking her chair back to where it belonged.

"Annnd that'll be ignoring the thing." Yang said as she pulled Glynda back again. "Not happening. Gotta face facts, and should probably do it now. You were checking me out, and I'm not going to say that I haven't been watching you. We keep this up, the tension won't have anywhere to go."

"And what makes you think for a moment that I want to be 'checking you out', as you so crassly call it?" She pushed her chair back and stood, not liking the Yang had height on her while sitting on that blasted desk. "Last I recall, you were the one attempting to give me a show."

"And you looked." Yang smirked, but that smug smile eased a moment later. "If I didn't think you'd blast me half way across the room, I'd kiss you right now…"

Glynda sighed. What was she supposed to say to that? She went with the obvious. "I'm more than twice your age, you realize this, correct?"

"So what, thirty something?" Yang shrugged.

"Older…"

"Forty?"

Glynda sighed. "Forty-two."

"So?"

"You just barely turned eighteen." Glynda protested. "If that isn't robbing the cradle-"

"Not a virgin…" Yang said, her palm held outwardly to silence the woman. It was a tirade Yang didn't care to hear. "Lost it at fifteen to a trusted friend. I never stopped after that. Been active since then with people I can trust, and I don't care what people say about it."

Pulling that infuriating palm away from her lips, Glynda's eyes narrowed. "Your father would absolutely kill me."

"So you have thought about it…" Yang said, her smirk returning full force.

"Of course I have!" And in that one moment of weakness, Yang was standing too. She took a step forward, so Glynda took one backwards. A retort found the air, desperate for purchase, like a wall between them. "You're my teammate, not my lover. There has to be a line. It cannot, or at the very least _should not_ , be crossed."

"Kay.." Yang said slowly, crossing her arms. "Are you saying that because you think you have to, or 'cause you really don't want to give me a chance?"

Glynda swallowed hard. "This is vastly immoral."

Yang was shorter than Glynda, but when it came down to power without a semblance, Yang was stronger. Another step forward, and an outreach later meant she had Glynda's dainty hand in her grip. Her thumb ran over the smoothness of that skin. She lifted it to her lips, a gentle press, little more.

"Please don't make this difficult." Glynda pleaded, but this only elected a small chuckle.

"What's so difficult?" What Yang didn't want Glynda to know was, beneath that false amusement a timidity rested. "This is easy. You either do want me. Or, you don't."

"I have a duty to uphold."

"And that duty takes every second of your day? It keeps you from doing other things?" Yang let her voice get quiet then, letting go of that cool hand, stepping back, and walking around the arena. Looking around at it. A big, vast, empty dome. "Look, to you, I'm probably just some dumb kid, I get that. I'm not older, or wiser, I do stupid things, get into my fair share of trouble…" She ran a hand through her thick blonde tresses. Thought about everything she'd ever done in her life. "I'm asking for a chance here, not some kind of commitment."

"I simply fear your feelings may be misplaced."

"Ah, I get it. You think I've got some sort of mommy complex going on, huh?" Yang hid her disappointment. Did Glynda really think that little of her? "No, that's not it. I've got two of 'em. One dead, one avoiding me. Trust me, I don't need another one."

"It's not _that_ either." Glynda muttered, feeling a little ill at the mere implication. "Though I am thankful you don't view me in that light…goodness that would be awful."

"Then…" Yang stopped, looking at the older woman directly. "What is it?"

"There are plenty of reasons why this is a bad idea." Glynda said, as she too walked across the arena floor. "Plenty more that you'll continue to disregard. No matter how many times you say it though, it doesn't change the fact that the two of us being...romantically involved…would spark controversy. It raises questions of morals and ethics. It stretches the foundation of what's appropriate in a workplace setting."

She came to stand in front of Yang, putting a hand on her shoulder, carefully brushing a strand of golden hair away from her face. She stood there for a moment before saying the last, and most critical problem. Something the two of them would share. "Finally, it would tarnish your reputation as a huntress. Any achievement you gain, any accreditations or merits, they could be spat upon. The slander you may face…that I might…it could bring others down too, just for being acquainted to us."

"Trust me, I've kind of already got that problem." Yang took a breath, stepped a little closer. "Raven made sure of that…" Wrapped her arms around the woman that was so close to her. Head resting on Glynda's chest, she closed her eyes, focused on that feeling. "This is probably one of the best things in the world to me right now. Don't wanna lose it just because some people are assholes."

Yang meant it too, every single word.

Glynda bristled before relaxing a bit, fingers running along those long, untamed golden tresses. "This is so wrong."

"Then let's just be wrong..." Yang murmured with a soft shrug. "Is that really so bad?"

"That is the issue." Glynda said after a moment. "I've yet to decide if the merit of this outweigh the possible losses."

"Tell me what I need to do to get you to drop your guard." Yang was sure of it. She wanted the risk. would take it, because she wanted that thrill. The value of knowing she pushed her own limits and broke beyond them. If nothing else came of this, she wanted at least that much. "I'll do anything, even kiss Ozpin's butt if I've got to."

"Slow…" Glynda said carefully, softly enough not to startle the girl in her arms. "We go slow, Yang, do you understand me? This is a dangerous risk in more ways than one. We're huntresses, above all. This...whatever it is, cannot come before that."

"Yeah…okay…" Yang murmured. "Your terms…promise."

It was enough, that small little agreement. It was more than Yang could have hoped for, and the squeezing she felt tight in her chest subsided, relief washing over in her in that one, brief moment.

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

"Whelp, good news and bad news. Good news is, we're in the clear."

"And the bad news?" The somewhat stern voice asked. Glynda was in total work-mode.

"No one's seen anything." Yang despondently reported.

"You're sure?"

"Nope." Yang replied, popping the end of word. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Just when I thought we picked up a trail, too." Glynda muttered.

"Yeah, well crap like this happens. You people really need better leads. Whoever your informant is, he's got a thumb halfway up his ass."

Yang heard Glynda sigh from the other end of the earpiece. The woman's voice was no less exasperated. "You don't even know how true that statement is."

Even after agreeing to take things slow, they had their pride too. No confession or change in their relationship was going to make them forget why they were teammates in the first place. Yang went back to chewing her gum loudly, hands in her pockets, she made the slow walk back to Beacon. "Well, not much I can do, unless you let me do what I know will get results."

"I'm starting to think I might let you." Glynda considered it, but she wasn't entirely sure. "I was sure that our lead would bring us closer to finding something. I really don't like this new spike in White Fang activity."

"You think I do?" Yang asked, biting on her lower lip. "If the others are digging around and find out about this…" Yang knew they'd be in the thick of battle before even blinking an eye. She prayed someone would call her if they even thought about it, but sometimes luck was just not on their side. "If you'd just let me go see a buddy of mine, I could look into this so much easier."

"I have a bad feeling about allowing you to do that by yourself."

"Well, you're not wrong." Yang laughed a bit. "So, I've pissed him off a few times, so what? It's not a meeting with him unless there's a bar fight."

"Bar fight?!"

"Yep."

"Yang, I don't want to even think about that. Operations like this take time." Crinkling on the other end. Then a pause, followed by some crunching. Glynda was eating something. Finally Glynda was able to continue. "Keeping a low profile is one of our highest priorities."

"Kay…well if that's the case…" Yang let a smirk fall across her face. "You wanna dance the cha-cha, I know a way we can make it happen."

"Why do I get the feeling your scheming something very, very dangerous."

"Well, because I am." Yang stopped by a coffee shop, ordering two coffees and a few confections. "Meet on top of the roof of the student dormitory."

"Yang…"

"Just trust me…"

"If you're thinking what I think you are…"

"They're gonna do it anyway." Yang finally sighed. "I know my team, I know my sister." Yang knew it was a risk, but it was a risk they were going to throw themselves into anyway, and when they did, Yang wanted to be there. "I can keep 'em away from some things, but _that_ group isn't one of them. Least if we're with 'em, we can make sure they don't do anything too stupid."

"Are you telling me they're actively looking for the White Fang?"

"Shipyard…" Yang deadpanned.

Glynda sighed. "Touché."

"Kay...so, student dorm it is." Yang said again. "One hour…oh, and when you get to the roof, remember, she's really like a cat."

"who's like a-" Glynda cut herself off, before she cleared her throat indignantly. "Faunus aren't animals!"

"She'll cower if she gets scared is my point. If she freaks out, we risk Blake running away." Yang explained carefully into the microphone. "I'm sticking my neck out for you and Ozpin here, but we're going to need to play by Blake's rules. If you want to know what the team knows, just play along. She's going to get defensive, and she's going to fight back, so brace yourself to be as harmless as possible."

Glynda had no choice but to agree. As a faculty member, she had to see for herself the kind of messes the students got themselves into. Yang was offering her a front row seat to some of Beacon's most problematic, incident ridden students. Yang herself being a ringleader to many questionable activates not even a week or so prior. Many of which Glynda had no clear proof of, but her intuition was one of her sharpest weapons.

She had to agree for their sake...and for her own impossible to satiate curiosity.

Besides that...it was what Ozpin would do...


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: This time, we didn't have time to do a full 10 hours of blitzing, so we agreed to five hours. As such, there only one "chunk" to day 3. Hope you enjoy it all the same. Day 4'sw blitz will be another 10 hour one, so more content then for sure.

 **Day 3, Chunk 1**

 **Same Ole Story**

"I can't believe you're gunna do this…"

"I'm cutting the feed now, Yang…"

"Don't you dare…"

"He's my boss, but he's also my friend."

"Keep that line open, or I'm going to burst that door to his office down."

"Honestly, you can trust Ozpin."

"Blake can't." Yang announced through the ear piece. She was headed to the student dorms, but that didn't stop her from trying to split her focus in half. "And if she can't, that means my old team can't...my friends can't."

"They can." Glynda said, equal measure of exasperation as pity finding her voice.

"Look, I'm letting you in on some big stuff here…" After a moment, Yang continued. "Our methods aren't exactly…oh screw it! You know the kind of people I had on my team. What does that tell you about our methods?"

"That Ozpin was wise to pair you with Oobleck." Glynda said, more to herself, than to Yang. Letting the humor escape her voice, she calmly pressed her point. "Ozpin is under no illusion of just what his students get up to. In spite of it, he most certainly hasn't tried to stop you. Then again, I highly doubt you, or your sister for that matter, could get up to the kind of trouble your bloodline demands."

Several long talks about trusting the future made Glynda go soft over the years. Though she was the one to involve herself with the students on a daily basis, Ozpin was the nurturer of the school. The father figure many of the students didn't have, but desperately wanted to. He was the one to remind her to have faith in the impossible, and he was also the one to save the pompous backside of several students when youthful bravado got the better of them.

Though Yang didn't know the full extent of the reason why team Ruby's team was often assigned to Oobleck, Glynda knew all too well. Oobleck was the adventuresome sort, the one to take his curiosity and turn it into something productive. What some teachers and faculty might consider raising hell, Oobleck often found prolific. Something worth exploration. His teaching methods were not too far removed from Ozpin's own.

Though, Glynda fancied herself a stricter teacher. Yang's unwarranted paranoia just happened to fall under the same category of silliness that Glynda's own often resided. It was time to prove a point. Clearing her throat, she proceeded.

"Rationally, I feel that I should warn you. I'm the one to normally deal with expulsion records, not Ozpin." Glynda took the elevator up. "So, with that in mind, how big, is big?"

"Huge!" Yang protested once more. "That's what I'm telling you. This is expulsion level stuff. Don't ask me to choose between them and Beacon, cause if you do, it's going to be them."

"So in other words, it's going to end up giving me a migraine." Glynda sighed. Not that she didn't suspect it. "I'll leave the earpiece in, but Yang, you need to let me speak to Ozpin." Glynda said after she heard the anxiety wave off of her voice like an earthquake. "I promise on my own job title, you can trust him, implicitly."

"Ugh!" Yang growled, the microphone on her end squalling in dismay. "I hate this!"

The elevator arrived on the top floor. "Okay Yang, I'm here, so keep quiet."

"Don't mess this up." Yang warned before getting quiet.

Glynda found the man right where she expected him to be.

"Ozpin." Glynda said quickly. "A word please…"

Blinking up from his paperwork, he cocked his head to the side, placing his fountain pen down. "You look absolutely livid today, Glynda." He greeted pleasantly. "Alright then, who must I convince you not to evaporate today?"

"Yang." Glynda crisped. "Ruby too, but one can't be named without the other, as I'm sure you'll agree."

"Very well." Ozpin interestedly leaned forward a little bit. "Do tell."

Glynda had to make a report, even if she didn't plan on outing all of Yang's old team. She knew she could trust Ozpin, that all of them could. True, the students didn't know about his tenacity and carefully calculated risks, but she did. Like she expected, he took her provided report like a child to candy. He smirked behind his coffee, biting back his snickers. Glynda expected that too, of course.

"Oh…" He murmured, more small laughs quaking his shoulders. "Is that all?"

"Ozpin…" She chastised, hands on her hips like an angry mother scolding a child. "This is no laughing matter. While I appreciate the levity you find at every turn, this is a serious matter." The urge to slap that silly smile off of his face lifted from the depths of her anxiety. "It needs to be dealt with care, and tact."

Carefully, he put his mug down, the amusement never leaving his eyes. "That would be an oxymoron with the 'involved parties' I'm assuming you happen to be referring to."

"Trust me, I know." She sighed.

Even from beyond the dark lenses, laughter remained. "So, let me see if I understand your request fully." He said slowly, but with an air of genuine curiosity. "You wish to be given full control over the mission, and to be pardoned from any and all incident reports that you and Yang may find yourselves included in."

"In short, yes." She nodded. "Yang wishes to take this mission out of conventional boundaries…boundaries that would put her old team directly under my supervision."

"And you agreed to this?" He lifted an eyebrow.

"To some extent." She amended, beginning to pace slowly back and forth.

"That's the amusing part." He chuckled to himself, unable to take a proper sip of his coffee. Lewd bubbles popped with each tiny breath of air that ghosted across the warm liquid. Wisely, he didn't remove that mug from his lips.

If looks could kill, he'd be dead. So would the floor, the walls, the ceiling, and anything else her gaze happened to burn into at that exact moment. She withheld her ire to the best of her ability. "Ruby's team has an uncanny ability to get themselves into every manner of trouble possible…but their methods have proven themselves effective." At this, she relented. "There may be a method to the madness, reckless as it is."

"So, you plan to follow by example." Ozpin merely chuckled once more. He removed that accursed cup, and dried his mouth with a napkin. "It's an interesting proposition, honestly. One I least expected from you."

She heard Yang curse on the other end of the earpiece. She was still not happy about Glynda talking to Ozpin. "If he screw shit up because you insisted on telling him…" Without noticing it, Glynda rolled her eyes at the rant going on in her ear.

His ears picked up the voice on the other end, though he didn't hear what was being said. "She's listening to every word you say, isn't she?"

"Indeed…" Glynda deadpanned, giving Ozpin another look to kill. At this, he laughed fully. To see her at the mercy of a teammate was something he had long wished to see, and here it was before him clear as day. "Oh, shut up." She said to both of them when Yang squawked something about blowing her cover.

This only made the man laugh harder at her expense. Once he was able to contain himself, he cleared his throat. "I see." He swallowed down another sip of coffee, but even that failed to smear the smirk from his face. "You've calculated the risks of this little plan of hers?"

"To the best of my ability, I've concluded that it may be worth it. I'd wager a sixty percent chance, give or take." Glynda said, which honestly wasn't very helpful. "You know just as well as I do, there are just variables that will always be unmitigated." She said, carefully referring to Yang in general.

Ozpin didn't need to be told twice. "Yes, well..." He tapped his fingers on his desk for a few moments, the humor unyielding. "Alright." He finally murmured. "Do as you see fit. I won't question it. However, I would hope that any and all damages caused by your 'involved parties' be kept to a minimum."

"I will try to contain them." Glynda knew the moment the promise came out of her mouth, it was going to be a failed effort.

She was sure there was going to be a plethora of property damages. Yang Xiao Long didn't do anything halfway. Even Ozpin knew this. Glynda herself could do some massive damage in combat. Damage that, if she were honest, even she wouldn't be able to repair. Leveraging beams strong enough to turn raw matter into mere particles tended to do that.

"Well, I presume we have nothing more to discuss then." Ozpin said, that shit-eating grin still growing wider. "However, should the need arise, please know that I would be happy to help oversee the matter at a moment's notice. Anytime, day or night."

"Yes sir." She nodded. "I'll be sure to remember that."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

She had no idea what she expected when she made it to the top of the student building...

Surely, she didn't expect crates to be pushed together to make some sort of table. A map was laying across it. Eight sets of eyes looked up from their positions. Somehow, Glynda got the distinct impression that this was not a new thing for the group. She glanced around, making a mental note to add security cameras to this corner of the building.

"Finally made it, huh?" Yang greeted. "Come on, plenty of room for one more."

"She's the muscle you were talking about?" Ruby said, looking at Glynda with a grin that was completely troublesome. "Oh, this is going to be fun. Just like that time we first met!"

"You sure we can trust her?" Blake asked, golden eyes bordering on feral, poised at the ready to deal with any opposition to their little group of miscreants. She'd found a good lot of people here, and she wasn't about to let anyone, not even a teacher, come between that.

"Blake, they know." Yang said carefully. "They've known for a while."

"Prove it…" Blake murmured, addressing Glynda directly. "What do you think you know?"

The eldest went to the direct point of the issue, cutting to the quick. "Your parents were members of the White Fang before their death. You were raised by members, rising the ranks quickly. A child picketer, turned feral operations…or so the unit is called."

Feral operations, another term for what a human might call black operations. A military term gone rogue. If Beacon knew that about her, they knew she was a criminal. She could be arrested on several felonies. Her bow twitched, violently. It did so in rapid secession. Everyone among the eight of them had known exactly what that flicking meant, and the look of terror in golden eyes only made matters worse.

"Uh..." Jaune said, looking to the rest of his team. "Should we..."

"Stay still." Pyrrha instructed, a hand unconsciously landing on his leg to keep him from fidgeting. Her eyes trailed to Ren, but Nora was a lost cause.

Blake kept her eyes fixated, wild and dangerous. Her ears flicked with annoyance. The bow loosened, and began to fall. That's when Ruby acted.

"Blake!" Ruby said, pulling Blake's attention back to her. "No…okay, just no…"

An erratic rumble fell from her lips. Purring wasn't always a happy noise. Fear or pain could spark it too, and this was not a happy sound. "You stay there…" Blake warned, crouched down, ready to flee. "Don't you move. Don't you dare move."

Yang pinched one of Blake's ears gently, whispering something in it for her alone. This caused the Faunus to blink rapidly, and give her nose a tiny little twitch. She didn't smell anything odd. Not like what Yang was telling her. Then she zeroed in on Glynda again. Her ears flattened against her head. "You hurt her, you're going to answer to me." The already threatened Faunus hissed.

"Nice kitty-kitty…" Yang muttered softly. "We talked about this..." She gave Glynda a smirk. "See, what'd I tell ya?"

"Fuck…you…and that nickname." Blake hissed again.

"Hey, no worries, I gotcha…I gotcha…" Yang said quietly, hand slipping between Blake's shirt, to run her fingers along Blake's shoulders. "You're good now, so about easing up a little, huh." The act was merely to calm her, and keep her there. Blake couldn't make a shadow clone to escape with if Yang could grab her first. "She's not going to hurt you." She leaned in to murmur again. "Could you maybe stop thinkin' about murdering my girl?"

The barely there whisper made her ears twitch again. Blake gave Glynda one more appraising look. "If you so much as blink the wrong way…"

It was around that point that Glynda deduced that Yang's plan was completely terrible idea. She wasn't even sure what it was yet, but before she could inquire, Pyrrha took the floor.

"Professor Goodwitch, please excuse Blake, it's been a trying few days. She's going to keep doing that ear thing though, so you might as well sit down…" She plucked the ribbon from Nora's curious grasp. "And Nora, remember what I said about her bow…"

"Sorry Pyrrha…" Nora said, looking properly scolded. "You too, Blake."

Handing it back over to Blake, who tied it back onto her head quickly, Pyrrha and Ren shared a slightly amused look. Blake ceased her frantic purring, but only after shooting Nora a territorial scowl. She didn't want anyone touching her ribbon. After that, things calmed back down.

"Okay, now that that's settled, Glynda, come sit." Yang invited, patting the space beside her and Pyrrha, to keep her away from Blake. "Weiss, you wanna start us off?"

"Three rules before we begin." Weiss said as she cleared her throat. "Firstly, nothing that's spoken leaves this roof."

"That includes Ozpin." Yang interjected. "No more telling him things…"

"Especially not the headmaster." Blake said, eyeing Glynda with every ounce of trepidation possible.

Glynda took a breath. In for a penny, in for a pound. "Alright, I swear I will not take any information to Ozpin…unless it's a well and true threat to the security of Beacon, or any other highly populated areas."

"Even then…" Blake growled. "You run it by the group." Her lips thinned into a line. "Always."

"Okay…okay…" Yang murmured. "She gets it…she won't…"

"If she even _thinks_ about it…"

"Blake, don't be mean for the sake of being mean." Ruby chastised.

"Oh, right Ruby, good lead into rule two!" Nora chirped happily. "Rule two is you can't punish us for things we haven't already done…"

"Nora..." Ren said into her ear. "Tone it down a bit...just a little bit."

"Aww, but Ren..." She watched as he shook his head. "Party pooper."

Weiss cleared her throat. "I'll clarify rule two." She said as she gave Nora a small frown of indignation. Then made eye contact with Glynda as a sign of respect. "We request that you don't order us around. We're letting you in on this, so we're trusting that you're going to turn the other cheek."

"Yeah, so no trying to catch us at the door…" Nora said with her usual little grin and chipper attitude. "Or like Ruby said, no being mean for the sake of it."

"A little leniency in any punishments you dole out would also be greatly appreciated." Pyrrha added, as Ren silenced her boisterous teammate once more. "We understand you have to keep up an appearance, but let's keep all punishments civil. Consider it payment for being allowed to know exactly what we're doing, and when we're doing it."

"I'm afraid to ask how often you sneak out…" Glynda gave Yang a searching look, but only received a grin in response. She looked around the table. The eyes of the guilty were as clear as day. "That often?!"

"You really, really don't want to know." Jaune sighed.

"We're not that bad." Ruby protested, only to shrink under Glynda's gaze. "Well, okay...maybe we are..."

"Which drags us to the third rule." Blake said. "Stay out my our way."

"Blake, that's not being diplomatic!" Weiss sighed, the meeting was going downhill fast.

"The White Fang is a malicious organization now." Blake protested, slamming her fist on the makeshift table. "As far as I can tell, they're gearing for civil war. There's a human involved too." She shook her head violently. "A human!"

Glynda frowned. "A human…in the White Fang…"

"The redheaded guy from the roof." Ruby shrugged.

"If it's Torchwick, it's humans…" Glynda swallowed down a small bit of bile. "Plural."

"What?" Blake snarled again.

"There was more than one human with him." Glynda told her gently. "On the roof, that night I first encountered Ruby, there was a woman that accompanied the man in question."

Blake balked, she'd suspected, but wasn't completely sure. "That's just sick! It goes against every moral the White Fang have. Back when I was a member, we always had humans sympathizing, and joining our rallies…but I can't ever remember a time when humans were in charge of any crime we committed."

Glynda looked down at the map on the table. There were marks, circles, scribbles all over it. She didn't know what the colors meant, but as she sighed away the stress of the situation, she nodded her head. "I'll agree to your terms, if you agree to one of mine…"

"And that would be?" Blake's eye narrowed.

"You don't leave this campus to do one of these…little missions of yours…without me." She looked over to Ruby. "And you make sure you keep both me and Yang informed at all times." She rubbed her eyes. "We really should be contacting Ozpin and Qrow…"

"Rule one!" Half the table barked as Blake tensed back up.

"You really have been through this before, haven't you?" Glynda saw Yang nod and resigned herself to fate. Looking to Yang and Ruby, she shook her head. "Your uncle is going to kill me?"

"Why would he do that?" Ruby asked innocently.

"Besides the obvious?" Yang shot back at her little sister. "If he knew about this, he'd shit a brick."

"It's not just that, Yang. He's one of our informants." Glynda explained. "He's been out on assignment for the past several months."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

What did she hope to accomplish by getting a bunch of children involved?

She wasn't entirely sure, but she knew it was dangerous. She also knew that several of the students didn't trust her in the slightest. Jaune was quiet, pensive. Blake was willing to threaten her at every turn. Weiss didn't seem trilled about her being there, but also saw the logic to it. Nora and Ruby, while friendly, weren't as bubbly as they outwardly appeared. If that was because of Blake, or because they didn't know what to think, Glynda wasn't sure.

Her current predicament wasn't helping matters at all.

"That's got to be a building violation…"

"That's my bed." Ruby said as she hopped up easily enough. "I really like it up here."

"I believe I requested that both of those beds be lowered at the start of the year."

"We did lower 'em." Yang said as she put the maps from the meeting back where they belonged. In a lock box, hidden under Blake's bed. "We put 'em back up after room checks were done."

Blake's eyes were focused on Glynda once again. "How long has this been going on?" She asked.

"How long has what been going on?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Never mind…" Yang told her sister. "Gotta talk with Blake."

"Then we're going to the library." Weiss said as she grabbed Ruby by the scruff of the cape. "Come on Ruby, I don't want to get caught up in the crossfire."

"Crossfire?" Ruby asked as she was dragged down the hall, but Weiss didn't seem intent on explaining.

The others watched on before Yang closed the door. She leaned against it, not too far away from Blake. The shared glance they gave each other was something they'd clearly done before. Once again, Glynda wondered at the nature of the former partners. All of the students were uncanny this year, not just Yang. In fact, she was likely the most normal of them all. Or at least the most predictable.

"Don't smirk at me like that." Blake said quietly. "Someone want to explain what the hell happened?"

"Hey, easy…" Yang said. "We just figured that out ourselves. It's new…really new."

Blake could only show a hint of disgust before it vanished entirely. "…Are you going to tell Ruby?"

"Later." Yang said. "When I know what to tell her."

"What about you?" Blake took two predatory but careful steps forward. "You're not with her to get to me, are you?"

"It wouldn't be worth that effort." Glynda replied coolly. "White Fang members are taught to avoid any and all means of interrogation. I've yet to see any of them crack under simple pressure."

"You think I'd be the same way?"

"I think there are better ways." Glynda sighed, summoning a chair from across the room to give herself a place to sit. "Ozpin has been fighting for Faunus rights for several decades now. He's more than a sympathizer. Back before White Fang leadership took an aggressive lurch towards the aggressive, Ozpin, and myself for that matter, worked with councilmen all around Remnant. It's true we hadn't made very much progress, but at the time, we didn't hold the same kind of clout we do now."

"Why exactly, are you telling me this?" Blake asked, bow twitching once more.

"Because I meant what I said before, on the roof." Glynda told her. "I can ask him to turn the other cheek. Follow our lead blindly, but that won't give us the help we clearly need." Casually, she suggested the aid of others once more. "Ozpin has friends in high places."

"This is a lot more personal than public offices." Blake sneered, turning to Yang. "You know I don't like this…"

"She's my partner, Blake. We're assigned to this mission to look out for threats in the immediate area. The thing is, the White Fang are part of that. Like it or not, she is kind of involved." Yang shrugged then and pulled out her wallet, sticking several crisp bills into the rainy day fund they kept from all group missions. "We may as well work together, right?"

Blake bit her lip, but reached for several notebooks, and the books that belonged to Port's class. "I've got assignments to finish." Blake muttered between her teeth as she gave Yang one last passing look. "Don't forget the game on Saturday." She said, slamming the door on both her teacher, and her ex-teammate.

"Huh, well what do ya know?" Yang said, eyeing the door. "That went better than expected."

"I get the impression that she isn't at all thrilled that we've partnered up." Glynda said slowly, taking in the disheveled room that Yang had once called home. Her bed was as unkempt as Glynda expected. Untouched, perhaps. As if the remaining three girls were unwilling to accept that Yang was no longer an inhabitant. "Never thought I'd see a person such as herself, work in a team environment such as this."

"Pretty sure she didn't expect to see the two of us partnered up either." Yang shrugged. "Blake's not that judgmental though. Might seem like it, but she's come from a bad place, that's all."

They exited the room, students of several grade levels parting and making way for Glynda as if she were a demon from hell. Not that she didn't inspire a particular reputation, but Yang could only smirk as even the brash students made themselves scarce. At first, she assumed only the first years were intimidated, but as even a third year team scampered by, Yang rethought that assumption.

It was kind of hot, not that she would admit that in a public hallway. She knew that would mean trouble. Instead, she looked at her scroll. It was almost dinner time. Good thing too, because her gut rumbled. The snack she had earlier while bribing Ruby hadn't been enough to fill her.

"Are we doing another patrol tonight?" Yang asked.

"Peter will be going tonight." Glynda said swiftly as she rested her hands behind her back. This made her look even more commanding than before. "We may retire early. I know I will be."

"Want to grab some food then?" Yang asked.

Glynda declined. "I've got papers to grade."

"Then where do you want food from?" Yang pressed. "I'll go pick it up."

She glanced at Yang, trying to discern the reason why Yang might make that kind of offer. Her first thought was that Yang was still trying to prove herself worthy as a proper suitor, but quickly, Glynda cast aside the notion. A meal would not be Yang's way of affirming that. This was merely a kind gesture from a thoughtful person. Little more. "A chicken salad from the mess hall then, if you would."

"Yeah, sure." Yang said. "Dressing? Something to drink?"

"A bottle of water, and as for the dressing, perhaps the house special."

"Gotcha." Yang said, jogging on ahead. "I'll meet you in the room."

Yang was quick to make it over to the faculty side of the building, but she no sooner made it there that she felt like the room was frozen still. Her gaze followed everyone else. On one of the monitors, an emergency news bulletin blared images of Grimm falling like rain, left and right. These kinds of sightings were common on hunter only networks. Allowing for television broadcasts ensured that all hunters were well aware of Grimm sightings and activity.

However, that wasn't what was on the screen now, as a dark haired woman was shown on monitors to be slicing through a huge gathering of Grimm. Several flying Grimm were beheaded within seconds of each other. The woman sailed through the sky, leaping from one carcass to another. It was a sight to behold, and one Yang found herself equally frozen into place by until the blurb ended.

Murmurs erupted then, as the gathered thrill seekers speculated on the masked woman.

Yang knew who it was. She didn't even need to second guess. Grabbing their meals quickly, Yang made it back to the room much faster than she anticipated, slamming the door and setting both trays down. The next thing she knew, she found herself buried in her scroll. She needed to find that broadcast.

"Raven was in the news just now." Yang said heatedly. A renewed sense of vigor hit her, and sending her mind alight like fire. "Took out a huge swarm of Grimm. It was crazy, and she did it all on her own."

"Did they say where the swarm was headed?" Glynda asked calmly.

"Dunno, walked in right in the middle of…" Yang trailed off. She found the article. "It happened hours ago…in the forest…says the swarm was headed southbound…" Yang frowned as she tried to piece together the odd puzzle. "I don't understand. There's no cities south of here for miles."

"There are towns though." Glynda explained needlessly. "Ones that don't often have the power of a strong huntress to rely on."

"Kind of nuts, though, right?" Yang asked. "It's weird to kill Grimm that aren't actively attacking humans."

Glynda plucked the scroll from Yang, setting over by the desk. Handing her the tray that contained a cup of soup, sandwich, and what looked to be the sloppiest plating of rice that Glynda had ever seen. "Raven's been known to do such things, yes." She then settled down with her own tray. "She feels that killing Grimm sends a message to others. It allows them to fear humans, or so she has always projected. She likes to have power and control, that much is obvious."

"Oobleck said something about Grimm." Yang thought back. "Actually, he says it a lot. That Grimm aren't as mindless as we think they are."

"So you did pay attention in class." Glynda muttered quietly.

"What do you think about it?" Yang asked.

Small container of dressing in hand, she poured it over her impressive looking salad, and then set to buttering the warm roll that always came along with it. She took this time to think. Glynda had a great many theories, but all of them came from one particular truth. "Anything that has agency, has the propensity to learn. From robots to Grimm, so long as agency can be achieved, so can further characteristics of lifeforms themselves."

"Robots, though..." Yang stilled at that. "Not humans with cybernetics, but actual robots?

"With the correct programming, I don't see why not. I think it merely comes down to a matter of degree." Glynda continued. "However, that in mind, it makes educated beings such as Grimm all the more deadly."

Yang nodded, finishing her meal with a speed that could have only come from having a little sister like Ruby to contend with. After that, she grabbed the stack of papers that Glynda had been correcting. Sliding them in a drawer and making her way across the room, she had her sights set. Glynda, having a much smaller portion was finished as well, Yang placed the tray on the desk. Slowly, so as not to drag the red pen across the white paper, she pulled it away.

"Yang?"

"No more work tonight."

"If I don't grade papers, how am I supposed to hand them back as study material?"

"You'll do it later." Yang told her as she settled herself in over on Glynda's side of the room. "I know we agreed to take this slow. All, but any slower, and we'll be going backward."

"It has been a rather trying day, and as you can see, I still have quite a bit left to grade before I can hand it back." As Glynda said this, Yang crept closer, the bed dipping once more under the weight of both of them. "You have every intention of being difficult, don't you?"

"Maybe…"

"Subtlety doesn't suit you very well."

Yang said nothing to that, but her gaze spoke for her. Knowing fingertips resisted the urge to do more than rest themselves along Glynda's cheek. The woman's skin was soft, as Yang had expected, fair, and supple. High cheekbones, not as a sign of age, but delicate nature of the woman in front of her. What Glynda lacked in brute force, she more than made up for by intellect.

Yang didn't really find it surprising that before she could lean in, she was halted by that commanding green eyed gaze. A firm palm rested over her chest, fingers relaxing atop Yang's collar bone.

"I wanna kiss you." Yang leaned in again, but met resistance once more. "What?"

"Must you always be so forward?" The elder of the two of them asked, taking the upper hand, slipping her own hands northward. One tangling into golden tresses ever so gently, the other busying itself with feathery caresses across Yang's neck that had the younger woman instinctively leaning into the touch. "I think you'll find that I'm not anything like your other conquests. You'll have to do a lot better than that if you want to come onto me."

"Hmm." Yang agreed distractedly, arms feeling like putty, sinking into those melt-worthy touches.

Glynda leaned in just as Yang's eyes began to close and relax, capturing her lips in a gentle kiss that lingered between them.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hope you are all enjoying this fiction thus far. The OC doesn't play a large role in this fiction, but I've named him Aero (meaning air) Auriferous (meaning yielding, or containing gold). This coincides with the naming rules that Monty himself decided on. I wanted to stay true to them as much as possible. Obviously, because he is a lion faunus, this last name holds a double meaning. You could in fact tie him to the Cowardly Lion of Wizard of Oz, if you wish to really consider it that deeply.

He won't be around much, as I said, his role is minimal, lasting only a few chapters, but I didn't want to do it half-assed.

 **Day 4, Chunk 1**

 **Same Ole Story**

"It's complicated."

She hated that phrase, it was such a cop-out. Things that were often used by people who didn't know how to adequately express their emotions. Still, it was the selfsame one that Yang found herself using. Sadly, she had nothing better to say about it. Yang cared about Glynda, found her attractive, not to mention mentally stimulating. Unfortunately, all of those things combined weren't enough when put under scrutiny.

Yang had told Blake the truth under solidarity, but now that she had, she also had to explain herself. The only problem was, Yang had never, _ever_ , been good at that.

"I would assume so, considering the situation." Blake deadpanned. "Well, do you love her?"

Yang blushed a bit, shrugging away the question. "Uh, kind of early for the L word, wouldn't you say?" Hands stuffed into her jean pockets as they walked along, she really wished she had picked a loser fitting set that didn't hug her ass so much. It was drawing attention, which she liked, but it was also cutting into her privacy, which at the moment, she wasn't fond of. "I mean, I might…one day…come around to that…maybe…"

"You've bitten off more than you can chew, I'd say…" Blake sighed as they passed the ice cream parlor and the coffee shop. "How did you even fall for her? You don't strike me as the type to go after authority figures."

"Well…" This cause Yang to pause. "Huh, wouldn't you know it? I don't know why, exactly." Mildly she kicked a pebble, eyes focused on that one thing. "When you really think about it, Glynda should be everything I don't want in a person."

"Opposites attract?" Blake offered, but Yang shook her head. "Well, what then?"

"Something else." The only problem was, she didn't know how to phrase it. "There's more to her than meets the eye…something distant…painful. I don't even know if it's any one thing particularly that makes her that way. Or if it's just the ways she's learned to live up until now. It's interesting I guess…and you know me…I like interesting."

"You're just asking to get hurt, Yang."

"Don't I always?"

They stopped in front of the bookstore that Blake frequented, her hand outstretched and resting on the handle. Before she opened it though, she turned, leaning on the brick that framed the glass window instead. "People like you get hurt, because you don't know how to put your guard up. I think maybe you should. Just this once."

"I trust Glynda with my life, I have no reason not to."

"Not her, idiot." Blake sighed. "You're not teaming up with her because of the White Fang. That's just a convent addition that crosses both teams. What you're after…that's more dangerous." She slapped Yang on the shoulder then, before going into the bookstore. "Don't get killed, that's all I'm asking."

Yang waved her off through the window, that campy little grin on her face, false bravado. There was some truth to what Blake had said. Yang was using the White Fang as a distraction for larger concerns, and while she hated to admit it, getting involved with Glynda wasn't helping. She had willingly changed that dynamic so profusely, there was no going back now…and…she didn't want to go back to a strictly professional relationship either.

However, being with a much older woman came with a great many problems.

The years weren't the only divide. It was the little things too, hobbies and interests. A mere glance at their taste in music proved this. Glynda's interests sharply lurching towards classical, smooth jazz, and other easy listening. Yang's collection was nothing but metal bands, hard rock, and pop, with a good healthy sprinkling of techno in-between. Yang liked to watch television, Glynda barely glanced at the news. They were both obsessed with their jobs, but for different reasons, their habits a self-destructive force by nature.

The pure lack of the frivolous commonalities had bothered Yang more so than she admitted.

"Ugh, why does this have to be so hard?!" Yang ranted aloud, her mind still working over a good idea for a date. She didn't have the kind of money Weiss did, so that limited the kinds of places she could take Glynda. She'd written off nearly every fancy eatery in the area for being too expensive. She'd written off even more for than lack of health food. If it was one thing she noticed, her girlfriend didn't seem to like greasy, fatty meals.

The coffee shop was mediocre, and she would never dare take Glynda bar hopping. The cinema was nothing but action packed gore fests, which Yang also ruled out. There was always the option of a long joyride at night along the waterfront. The properties and view were spectacles in and of themselves…but she was sure Glynda could probably afford one of those homes by now, and had likely been down the waterfront many times.

No closer to an answer, she went back to Beacon after picking up the hair care products she insisted on buying from the specialty store. Her long blonde hair was her one vanity. The one thing she would not, could not, ignore. Yang didn't have a lot of what one might call womanly pride, and her modesty was near non-existent, but her hair was the one thing she demanded always be beautiful, even if she was covered in the grime her job title demanded of her.

Tossing her bag onto her bed, she flopped down a moment later, closing her eyes and sighing. It wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. Grabbing her scroll, she thumbed through her contacts, clicking one, and lifting the receiver to her ear. Waiting for the ringing to subside, forced herself to take a long, slow breath.

"Hellooooo! You've reached the Xiao Long residence, home of Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao Long, and of course yours truly, Taiyang Xiao Long. Sorry no one's available to get your call, but of you leave a message, one of us will get back to you when we can. If it's urgent, please call Signal at-"

Yang hung up the phone and cursed to herself. She should have known her father wouldn't be home. She needed something normal, something constant…she needed…to call Ruby. She picked up her scroll again, this time setting up video feed. "Hey-ya!"

"Hey Yang, what's up?" Her sister greeted cheerily in response.

"Nothing much around here." Yang explained, flipping over onto her belly. "I see you're out and about though. Where ya at?"

"The bakery." Ruby pleasantly showed the sign of the small one. In fact, it was the one directly across from the book store. "Blake's buying me cookies."

"Oh, yeah?" Yang smirked then as the Blake came into view holding something. It was a white box with parchment paper sticking out of it. "Oh, okay. I see how it is, Ruby. You're just getting too old to want to hang out with your big sister." Yang said, only mock-seriously. "I was just by there, Blake what gives! You having some super-secret meeting to conspire against me or something?"

"I ran into her on the way to the transport station." Blake deadpanned, giving Yang a distinctly sour look. "Don't go getting any weird ideas."

"Weird ideas?" Yang cocked her head in confusion. "There anything weird going on that I should be having ideas about?"

"Yang…" Blake's stare could have frozen hell over. "It's not like that."

"Uh, Ruby, did you touch her bow or something?" It was an honest question, but a flick to the screen made a loud tapping on her end. "Hey, bad kitty, no cookie." Another hard flick later, and the receiver was squealing in protest. "Oww, okay! Geeze…stop with the flicking."

"Then you stop with the nickname. In any case, did you want something?" Blake asked then as she handed Ruby her favorite kind of cookie, and from the looks of the box, there was a full dozen inside.

"Yeah..." Yang said slowly. She really needed to remind herself of what her life used to be like...remind herself that past was still exactly where she left it. "You guys gotta keep Friday open. I wanna go out, just the four of us…for old times' sake."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

There was just the barest hint of lipstick that clung to the martini glass. Just a tiny bit of peach coloring. It was enough to glisten off of the dim lighting, drawing attention to it. However, all the more enticing were the fingertips that cradled that damn lucky glass. If he didn't know any better, he was sure that Yang was going to send him seeing stars, but he gulped and slapped on his award winning grin.

"So, you going to tell me why you're trying to clean me out?" He asked, flicking his eyes to the clock. It was two hours before opening. "You don't even like martinis."

"That's not really your concern." Yang said as she pushed down her sunglasses, giving her old friend a look that could only be described as sultry. A moment later, she flashed a grin. "Don't worry about it so much…I'll have another though."

"Ew, why _are_ you drinking that?" Ruby asked, nose crinkled. "Gin is so dry."

"And how would you know, Ruby?" Weiss asked, thoroughly bothered by her partner's statement. "Don't tell me you've been given one before."

"When she was little, she took a sip out of dad's gin and tonic when he wasn't looking." Yang explained, ignoring her little sister's blush.

"I thought it was water…worst mistake ever..." Ruby admitted, though her question remained. "Sooo, Yang, why?"

Yang considered that, chin resting in her palm as she toyed with the olive before pulling it between her luscious lips. "Hmm, guess you could say I was just wondering why Glynda likes 'em so much. Don't exactly see the appeal."

"It's an acquired taste." Weiss offered. "My father indulges in them frequently."

"Maybe, but then how many do you have to drink before they start to taste is good?" Yang returned before giving the man behind the bar an inviting little grin. "Hey, Junior, gonna fill me up?"

"Don't see why you keep drinking shit you know you don't like." He growled from under his breath. He did as he was told, ignoring his instincts to serve her the regular neat whiskey in a lowball glass. He regarded the woman next to her. "And for you ma'am?"

"Grasshopper." Blake said from her place.

"And the kid?" He asked, nodding to the youngest of the group.

"Uh, I'll have orange juice." Ruby said nervously, pressing the tips of her fingers together. She had never actually stepped foot in a bar without her uncle or her father. It was a strange experience.

"Sparkling water for me." Weiss sighed as she flanked Yang's side, giving the eldest among them an exasperated look. "Underage drinking is a crime. You should know better, if anyone finds out, you'd be in trouble." Those sharp blue eyes zeroed in on Blake next. "You too! Oh, Goodwitch is going to have one of those conniption fits if she smells your breath."

"If imbibing is the worst thing I do with my life anymore, the world will be better off." Blake said, taking a taste of her ordered concoction. "Ah, it's been so long since I've had one of these. Goodwitch isn't going to find out anyway."

"You can avoid her." Weiss protested before snidely glaring at Yang. "You on the other hand…" Her comments were going to fall on deaf ears, of this she knew all too well. She settled herself, sighing as she looked around the bar. She agreed to meet Yang for a girl's night out, but she never would have stepped foot out of the room had she known that they'd come to a place such as this. "Well, at least I know you don't intend on doing anything too crazy. You wouldn't bring Ruby along to a drinking binge."

"Erm…actually…" Ruby trailed off, sighing again.

"Oh god, Yang." Weiss sighed. "You didn't..."

"That doesn't count." The blonde protested. "Uncle Qrow was the one who came up with that idea." Yang turned to Weiss and explained. "Before I came to Beacon, my dad and uncle took Ruby and I out to one of the bars in Patch, owned by a friend. They let me have all the liquor I wanted, but that hangover…ugh, talk about getting hit by a bus. Not gonna drink like that again if I can help it."

"They took me so I could watch…" Ruby added from the other side. "They let me taste some of Yang's stuff, but I didn't like it so I just had soda all night."

"Which is just about as bad when it comes to you." Yang retorted before easing back and smirking just a little bit. "I didn't come here to get all of us drunk. I just, well…gotta get away from Beacon sometimes."

"So what, exactly, are you looking for?" The bartender asked, one elbow resting on the tall wooden bar. "Told you before, Xiao Long, I don't keep your kind of costumers around anymore."

"Which we both know is horseshit." Yang said pleasantly before chuckling a little. "No, this is just a night to kick back, and I wanted to bring the old team." With that being said, she pulled out a credit card, sliding it across the bar. "Start a tab, and give us some darts."

"They have darts?" Ruby asked exaltedly.

"Most bars do." Blake said, eyes glimmering in humor. "So you really don't take her out with you much, do you?"

"Dad would kill me." Yang said. "This is Junior's place though, so I can slip by on this one."

The man in question handed them two sets of darts, and continued to watch from his place. It might have been true that he didn't always get along with Yang. She had a bad attitude when it came to dealing with underhanded politics and heist deals. He liked her spunky nature though. That's what kept them strong, even after all the fist fights. "A real go-getter that one." He said more to himself, than the white haired heiress that seemed to be perfectly happy to sit at the bar. "You've known her a while?"

"By the sounds of it, you've known her longer." Weiss retorted with just a hint of venom.

"Friend of the family." He allowed distantly. It wasn't far from the truth. He was friends with a few of Yang's blood relatives…just none that Yang herself had ever made dealings with. He aimed to keep it that way. Among his many other acquaintances, her uncle stood included, even if they didn't get along. Mutual respect got them all by.

"Weiss!" Ruby called from the other side of the bar. "Hurry up and play with us."

"Better get a move on, girlie." He said, shooing her off. "You got an hour before I boot you and your little friends out on your asses. If you could reiterate that to Xiao Long, that'd be great."

For that one hour, there was nothing else for Yang outside of the drinks, the game, and the team. On a Friday night, things like this were common place. There was a change in the air though. Yang was starting to notice the difference in her friends. There was an edge in everything Blake did. Keener, sharper, with careful intention. It was hard to see as an outsider, but Yang knew Blake.

Knew her too well.

Weiss was still just as abrasive as usual, but her nagging had reached a new level. A different one. Something bordering concern, rather than complaining. Something almost endearing. It was almost, _almost_ cute.

Finally, there was Ruby herself. She was still Ruby, through and through, but Yang wasn't stupid enough to think that her absence hadn't taken its toll. Blake was watching the girl like a hawk, and Weiss bit back her barbs at every turn. As individuals, they were every bit the same. As a team, there was a noticeable hole, and she couldn't say that it didn't hurt. When Blake was slinging an arm around Ruby, a pleasant little smile on her face, it hurt.

It hurt a lot.

Even though this was what Yang wanted to be sure of, now that that she had her answer, she felt an inexplicable twinge of sadness that she covered up.

She continued to do so even after she and the others were kicked out of the bar. Even after they went back to Beacon. The thought lingered when she bid Ruby and the girls to have a good night. Finally, it took hold of her when she entered the dark room she now called home.

Mindlessly, she bushed her teeth and washed her face, trying to focus on anything but her old team. It was better this way, she was sure of that, but it still hurt so much.

Shucking off her clothes, she grabbed one of her extremely baggy shirts, tossed it on, and crawled into Glynda's bed. Arms wrapping around the older woman before she could even catch herself doing it. That was soothing enough, until the silence was broken.

"Y-Yang?" Glynda asked in a haze of sleepy wonder. She tried to turn, but found resistance.

"Sleep." Yang whispered.

That one word kept her voice even as she buried her face into Glynda's shoulder, breathing in deeply. She didn't want to think about what was really bothering her. They fixed whatever issue the three of them seemed to be having, and that's what mattered. It didn't matter how they filled the void. It wasn't Yang's business. Ruby was happy. The team was stable. That was enough. It had to be...but for Yang, it wasn't.

Glynda turned over adamantly, her gaze searching through the darkness. Yang's figure left a silhouette against the bright moon. "Did you enjoy the night out with your friends?"

"I think Blake might have a thing for Ruby…" Yang said quietly. "Never saw it before…never really looked, I guess…."

"I've never gotten such an impression." Glynda said, as she sat up a bit, putting some weight on her elbow. "What makes you say that?"

"Blake isn't exactly the touchy-feely type…but she was hanging all over my little sister…" Yang shrugged then. "Then again, I might be being stupid about the whole thing. Not the first time I took the stuff Blake did the wrong way."

"Does that bother you?"

"Eh, yes and no." Yang shrugged. "Ruby's kind of a scatter brain, so I'm not sure how she would deal with something like this. Then again, it's not some random jerk that's trying to pick up my little sister. It's Blake, and I can trust the circle that Ruby hangs around…none of them were ever try to hurt her."

"I see." Glynda murmured quietly, more to herself than Yang. "Well then, there shouldn't be an issue."

"The only issue is, to me Ruby's…well…she's got a lot on her plate right now." Yang let her eyes drift closed, sighing deeply, reminding herself of exactly whose arms she was in. If anyone would get the magnitude of Summer Rose, and what her death represented, Glynda would. "I've got it lucky. Thing is, as much as my mom might be a degenerate, so long as I don't emulate her, people will be happy…but Ruby?" Opening her eyes, she offered a small, but bitter smile. "Summer Rose, she's a lot to live up to. Dunno if it's fair to expect Ruby to do it."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

An idea came to her finally, after spending far too long worrying about what exactly to do for a good first date. The only problem was, she was going to need a bit of help. Actually, if she were honest, she'd need a lot of it. Thankfully, she had friends committed to the cause. Unfortunately for her, though, that was also the problem.

"I don't know about this, Weiss…" Yang said, peering over the shorter woman's scroll. "Those look expensive…"

"Those seats are also owned by my family's company. Don't worry so much Yang. Just watch…" And watch Yang did, as Weiss punched in a few numbers. The incredibly expensive opera tickets lowered in price dramatically. "That should help. It's the same discount we give the employees. Sorry I can't just give you the tickets, my father wouldn't like that one bit. Hopefully this makes it more affordable."

"Five hundred lien down to one-fifty for a set of two?" Yang nodded, a slow whistle slipping past her lips. "Yeah…yeah, I can pull that off."

"Okay, so here's how this is going down." Ruby said, rubbing her hands together as she thought about their master plan. "Next weekend, we start off with breakfast in bed. Ren's in charge of that."

"As if that was even a question!" Nora said proudly, patting Ren none too gently.

"There are faculty meetings every Saturday, and they last until evening." Yang murmured in thought. "Blake, you sure about helping Pyrrha with dinner?"

"We have it covered." Blake said as Pyrrha nodded. "Besides, Ren will be there too, it's not like we can screw it up."

"She's right of course." Pyrrha added, seeing Yang's unease. "Where I hail from, cooking is a fundamental aspect of training. Mealtime being some of the most opportune times to form peaceful relations among adversaries. As such, I spent three years in formal education. One dinner for two isn't going to be a problem."

"Then, after dinner, you'll take her to go see the orchestra at the opera house." Weiss chipped in. "Which reminds me, we need to be sure you have the proper attire."

"Oh! I have just the thing." Nora said, opening up Ren's part of the closet, pulling out a hanger that was protected by a velvet bag. "Go put this on!"

Yang shrugged, doing as she was told. She walked across the hall to her the other dorm room, only to emerge a few moments later looking horrified. Of all of the things she let Nora talk her into, this has to be by far the worst. "I look like a total dweeb." Yang said horrified as she took in her appearance using Pyrrha's mirror. "Not to mention how tight this is. The jacket doesn't even button."

"Okay, so you don't pull of the butch look very well." Nora shrugged behind her fit of laugher.

"Actually, if we cut her hair…Ooph!"

"Really now, the both of you…" Pyrrha chided, picking up Jaune from his prone state, sprawled out on the carpet. "Was that really called for?"

"Cut my hair, and die." Yang nodded before looking back into the mirror. She tried to picture it, shuddering visibly. "Eww. Just Ew…"

"I was only trying to help." Jaune protested weakly, spluttering for much needed air that Yang had knocked out of him.

"Idiot…" Ren sighed as both he and Pyrrha dusted Jaune off. "If there are two things that are off limits, its Yang's hair, and Blake's bow…you'd think you'd learn your lesson by now."

"The no touchy squad strikes again. Serves you right, Jaune, even I know not to threaten the hair." Nora managed before another fit of giggles slipped out alongside Ruby.

"Never mind the suit, Yang." Ruby laughed even harder as lilac eyes sent her a glare. "We'll try something else."

"We'll let's just stick you in a miniskirt." Jaune sighed again, watching as his exuberant teammate plucked one out of Pyrrha's drawer.

"No, no, no." Pyrrha emphasized then. "My clothes don't fit her properly, Nora. She's planning on a trip to the opera house, not a…a…bordello."

"Oh, come on, it's not _that_ short." Yang protested.

"Yes it is!" Blake finally chimed in. "Every time you borrow that stupid thing, we all end up seeing your backside."

"Speaking of Bordello's, don't even get me started on your underwear." Weiss sighed.

"Uh, what's a bordello?" Ruby asked then, still perplexed about what kind of place would turn Pyrrha's cheeks beet red.

"A house of ill repute…" Pyrrha sighed at length.

"Okay, but what is that?" The girl asked again.

"Oh, you know, a place people go to vulcanize the whoopee stick." Nora said, causing the entire room to glare at her. "What? It's true…"

"Nora!" Yang barked. "That's my little sister you're talking to."

"I'll deal with this." Weiss announced. Her partner was still confused, only made worse by Nora's description, the heiress decided to be as blunt as possible. "They mean a whore house, Ruby." Weiss finally murmured with a hand to her face.

"Oh. Ewwww!" Ruby visibly paled. "That's gross."

"And she finally gets it." Nora said with a hint of amusement.

"Wait a second, those places actually exist?" Ruby turned to Blake. "I thought those were only fantasy, like in books."

"You'd be amazed." Blake said cryptically, a cat-ate-the-canary smile tugging at her lips.

"Indeed." Weiss seconded. "Many of the upper class entertain themselves in such places. As a blue blood, you're lucky if you can avoid the scandals."

"Oh, dear sweet god…" Yang pinched the bridge of her nose. "Not that I'm gonna censor what you all tell my little sister about, or anything…but, I'm standing right frickin' here."

"Yes, I agree." Pyrrha was still blushing deeply at the conversation. "Also, there are men present…so back to the matter of proper opera attire…"

"Well, what about the prom dress?" Ruby pointed out. "You still have that, don't you?"

"Vetoed!" Weiss piped up. "White isn't the most flattering color. What she needs is an LBD."

"LBD?" Jaune asked. "I don't want to know, do I?"

"A little black dress." Yang said as she looked herself up and down in the mirror. "I don't have one though."

Blake smirked as she types something into her scroll. She pulled up the student's combat database, which of course had every measurement one could think of, plastered right across the information roster. It spared no finer detail. While many might have found the lack of personal privacy on the matter insulting, from a purely tactical mindset the students understood that every bit of information changed the game on the battle field.

"We've got everything we need right here." She said, having found Yang's file. "You just leave the dress to me..."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

The patrols routes became mind-numbing in their routine, but that gave Yang plenty of time to think about her upcoming night out. Unfortunately, for her though, she couldn't ponder the fantasies in her head for too long.

A small dust store robbery turned into something bigger, and she was sent to go deal with the fallout.

When she arrived at the scene, she expected the same kind of robber that frequented the area. Adults with a bad reputation. Faunus, or human, it didn't matter. It was almost always a male, between the ages of early twenties to late forties. Someone looking to make a quick buck. It was usually desperation that drove them, and failing that, it was normally members of the White Fang. When she arrived at the scene though, what met her wasn't the usual suspect.

It was a male, but only a just boy. Easily several years younger than Ruby. With his ball cap on, cocked sideways, she was sure the boy wasn't exactly human. There was something else though, what looked like a tattoo hidden just beneath the collar of his tank top. If Yang didn't know any better, she could have sworn it was a symbol of some kind.

"Stealing is wrong, you know." Yang said when she finally cornered him in an alleyway. His clothes had seen better days. It wasn't the first homeless child she'd passed down in this area…it _was_ however, the first she passed able to rob a fully equipped dust store. "If you're hungry, I'll get you something to eat."

"Not really hungry." The child replied, instead tossing something small and round from his pocket.

A ball of red dust. As soon as it hit the ground, Yang jumped away from the fire.

"Wrong move, ya little brat." Yang growled, as soon as the smoke from the small blast cleared. Her fist met brick as she pulled back her anger.

"Say the lady who can't catch me." The boy taunted, having climbed to higher ground. "What's the matter, human, can't keep up with a Faunus?"

"Tell you what, you put that bag down, and I won't beat you up one end of Vale and back down the other." She asked again, trying to sound calm and inviting.

"No can do." The black haired Faunus had very inhuman ears, the little round appendages atop his head wiggling before he stuffed the cap back atop his head. Fluffy, and covered with golden fur. A Faunus indeed. "Hey, it's been fun, but I got to jet. Smell ya later."

He jumped further up the fire escape. Then she felt it. A big, wet glob of something sticky in her hair. Plucking it out, she didn't even have to guess.

 _"_ _Gum…"_ The pure venom in her voice alerted Glynda.

"From the sounds of it, you didn't make a peaceful resolution." She said, already speeding through the streets on foot. She hated running, absolutely hated it, but she wasn't going to let another criminal get away.

"That little twerp is mine." Yang said into her earpiece as she went barreling after him, firing off a few blasts from Ember Celica to force her momentum to be faster than his. She grabbed him, and they tumbled off the next roof, landing in a garbage pile. "Aw, dammit…"

"Yang?" Glynda asked from her position. "Report."

"My ass hurts."

"Never mind that." Glynda barked. "Did you catch the suspect?"

"It's just a kid." Yang sighed as she eased up her hold. "Not exactly a suspect..." He was out cold from the fall, but his aura protected him. She pulled the collar of his shirt. It was a tattoo, and not a good one. "Oh…shit, Glyn, I need you to come to my position...and I need you to hurry..."


	7. Chapter 7

**Day 4, Chunk 2**

 **Same Ole Story**

She reeked of the trash heap she fell on top of. The foul smell paired right along with her foul mood. It was all made worse by the bag of dust crystals that had been jostled around, making for one very volatile bag of supplies she had to carefully extract so that it didn't combust into a ball of flaming ice shards. Only after all that was done, was she able to breathe easy.

Then she looked at him.

 _Really_ looked at him, feeling sick to her stomach. Small circular ears stuck out from atop his head, but it was his long, wild black hair that bothered her. Feeling more than just a little guilty, she found the cap and put it back on his head. "I really just fell off a roof with a kid, didn't I?"

"Yang, don't start second guessing your actions now." Glynda's voice was clear now, and not from the audio feed as she rounded the corner. "We do what we have to do and be done with it. You don't need to dwell on it any further than that." With parting piece of advice, she was already contacting proper authorities. Her first message was to Ozpin, but the second was going to be the police.

"If he didn't have an aura…" Yang trailed off as she leaned against the back of the dumpster.

"He does have one though." Glynda reminded her. "And he was able to commit a robbery. The boy is hardly defenseless."

"I think I'm gonna be sick…"

"You did what you had to do, Yang. That's all."

"Speaking of that..." Yang really didn't want to know, but had to ask. "What do we do now?"

"The same thing we do with all members of the White Fang who commit crimes." Glynda said as she finished informing the proper authorities and then checking the boy's vitals. "I'm going hail for a taxi back to Beacon. You're going to get that bag of dust back to the store owner, and hear what he has to say about the theft. When the police get there, make sure you explain what just happened in full detail."

"What are you going to do?"

"Get this boy to Ozpin." Glynda said, as she picked him up, and made sure his ball cap stayed on. He was incredibly light for his size, probably a little underweight, but not much. "We'll part ways here...and Yang...keep your chin up."

Yang did as she was told, a sinking feeling in her gut the entire time distracting her. She knew that children were involved with the White Fang. Blake had been one such child. It was one thing to hear it and another to see it. It was an entirely different level when that child was also responsible for a theft of dust. The contraband in the bag was easily worth thousands...and then there was the tattoo.

That was disturbing. Yang had seen Blake a few times in the showers or the room changing. She didn't have a tattoo. If she didn't, why would a young boy?

Biting back what she knew to be a world of aggression, Yang chewed the inside of her lip. It wasn't her place to question the logic of radical extremists. She was never oppressed in her life, she couldn't fathom the rationality of a small boy. She doubted that he hated humans for the sake of it, but even after getting her work done, she couldn't exactly bring herself to believe otherwise.

Lost, she went to the one person who could explain what the hell was wrong with this corrupt world. "I just don't get it, Blake." Yang sighed, scratching at her scalp. A very, very, bad sign. "Why make a kid do something like that?"

Blake could only shrug. She felt bad for Yang, truly, but her response was as clear and stone cold as they came. "Even children have to eat."

"And you say humans in the White Fang seems sick..." Yang muttered, giving her friend a deeply disturbed look. "What the hell kind of family is that?! If that were my sister, I sure as hell wouldn't be putting her up to grand theft. You want to talk about disgusting, let's talk about disgusting. Children shouldn't be fighting an adult's war."

"It's not based on age, Yang. It's a racial war, adult or child, doesn't matter. We're all discriminated against. The White Fang won't turn any Faunus away." Blake explained as she put her hands on the taller girl's shoulders, forcing them to meet eye to eye. "Doesn't matter what you did, or who you are…you need a home, they'll give you one…but because of that, everything comes down to capabilities."

"Capabilities..." Yang parroted, there was something gritty about that word. "What the fuck, Blake..."

"It's true." the ex-member said with a small shrug. "I've seen monkey Faunus no taller than my hip stealing food from the markets. I've seen girls younger than Ruby performing assassinations. If you can do something, then you do."

That time, Yang really did almost vomit, tasting the bile in her throat. "That's just twisted."

Blake sighed, hard pressed to explain what she understood…what all White Fang members did...what all ex-members tried to come to terms with. "It might be." It was a soft admission. "Indoctrination always is...but if that was all you could rely on, you would do the same."

"Like hell I would." Yang growled.

"You would too!" Blake shouted, golden eyes like molten fire. "Especially if you had to look after Ruby and you had no one else to help you. You do what you have to do to survive! When the only people you've got to protect you tell you to do something, you do it." She pulled away, golden eyes averted, closed. Her mouth a tight line. "That's just the way it is." Blake breathed. "Twisted, or not."

Yang couldn't accept that. There was too much bad in the world if that was the case. Maybe her anger was justified, or maybe she was too tired to really care. Either way, she felt like she'd fallen from more than just a roof. As if she'd been falling for a long time now, with no place to really land. "You used to know some of these people…were they all completely bat-shit insane?"

Blake shrugged, taking a few steps back. "Does it really matter even if they weren't?" She asked, hot air and cold words. Fury and self-loathing, desperate to be understood. "Would that change what's going through your head right now?"

"Don't do that." Yang instantly regretted her misdirected rage. She grabbed Blake by the wrist, not wanting the woman to storm off. "I'm just..." Yang let out an unsteady, angry breath. "I'm trying to swallow down the fact that you weren't the rarity that I thought you were." Yang explained sickly. "Not workin' very well, that's all." She let go of Blake, crouched down to the ground, resting there.

"So I've noticed..." Blake offered, but Yang didn't respond.

She picked up a nearby stick, running it along the crack in the ground idly. Anything to keep her eyes on the ground, and the dark thoughts out of her head. "Didn't think they pulled in youngsters habitually. I don't know, I suppose I'm just more idealistic than I thought."

Blake wished there was something she could say, but deep down, she agreed with Yang. It was one of the reasons why she left, and one of the reasons why she sometimes wished she had stayed. Who knew what Adam was doing now? What kinds of things was he teaching the new radicals that were likely to join every day? The young an impressionable were some of the strongest warriors for the cause...and that could be a very, very bad thing.

"For some of them, it's the only family they're ever going to get." Blake began as she too, knelt down and sat beside Yang. "I know this is going to be hard for you to believe, but there are good people among them. The White Fang aren't all bad. A lot of them are just angry, and misinformed." Blake sighed then, there was only one example, albeit human, that she could think of. "Kind of like Weiss, before she got to know me."

"Yeah…" Yang sighed, running a hand through her long Blonde tresses. "Yeah, you're right. You've got to be…it just sucks. That's all." Her scroll went off, the obnoxious ringtone drawing Yang's attention. She pulled it from her pocket, answering with a grin that wasn't as confidant as she wished it was. "Helllooo!" That fake cheer was also well practiced, and flawless.

"Yang, are you near the campus?" Glynda asked.

"Uh, yeah. Student's dorm roof. Hanging out with Blake right now." Lilac lifted to golden, sharing a shrug. She looked back to the screen. "What's up?"

"We've hit a little snag with the Faunus boy from earlier." Glynda said, turning her scroll to show the current situation. He had somehow managed to wedge himself up on top of the large bookcase in the corner, and had managed to get inside of the air duct. "We've tried everything."

"Can't you just drag him out?" Yang asked, but Glynda shook her head.

"Not if I can't see him, which as you can tell, is near impossible given the current circumstance."

"Riiigghht, gotcha." Yang got up, and shared another look with Blake. There was a nod between them. "I'll uh, some see if I can't help drag him out…"

"I'll go with you." Blake assured. "Might help to actually have someone who understands his side of things."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Yang was fast on her feet, and Blake was close behind, but even once entering the office, she noticed that the situation was sorely out of hand.

Ozpin had resumed other work, his eyes focused on a few thick documents as he hummed tunelessly to himself. Meanwhile Glynda looked about ready to disfigure half of the wall, and had upended half of the furniture. Much to Yang's amusement and fear, the woman was glairing fire, muttering very near obscenities under her breath.

She went to work carefully taking the wall to pieces, chunk by meticulously carved chunk. Glynda didn't want to harm the diminutive troublemaker, she merely wanted him in a much more manageable position.

"Well that escalated quickly." Yang said as she saw what Glynda had been doing. "No luck, huh?"

"Absolutely none." Glynda huffed, blowing one of her now unkempt bangs to the side with an exasperated puff of air.

"How in the hell did he even get up there?" Yang murmured, seeing as the bookshelf had been dragged away from the vent, a ladder put in its place.

"I left him with Ozpin for merely a second." Glynda replied, continuing to pull bits from the wall to expose the metal air duct within, along with the piping, electrical lines, and insolation that were safeguarded by the drywall.

"It was a bit longer than that, I'd wager." Ozpin corrected calmly, as if there wasn't a member if the White Fang hiding right above his head. "I wasn't about to pin him to the chair. I'm trying to earn his trust, not intimidate him."

"Yes, well, perhaps a little bit of healthy fear of authority might do him some good." Exposing the duct, she bashed on the bottom a few times, sending the boy scampering. She heard him go back towards the opening. Then she climbed back up the ladder. He fled back behind the corner of the duct and out of sight as soon as superior hearing detected her movement. "This is why we should have kept him in the interrogation room."

"Perhaps." Ozpin agreed simply, partaking of the warm beverage he always kept by his side. "Though, he is just a child."

"Be that as it may, his insubordination is going to cease right this instant." Glynda demanded, flailing her riding crop around in the square space, attempting to spook the boy to the other, now open air duct. "Come on, out with you!"

"Now, now, you'll catch more flies with honey." Ozpin chuckled.

"And you call yourself a headmaster…" She chided. "You could get him out in an instant, if you wanted to…" With a renewed sense of vigor, she smacked the sides of the vent once more, making an awful racket that had Blake pinning her ears flat, even under her bow. "Out I said!"

"I suppose I could, if I wanted to make a point using brute force and aggression." Ozpin replied softly with a shrug. "The reason I didn't, is the same reason you haven't dismantled my entire office. We can't risk him running deeper into the ventilation shaft."

"Yeah, uh, that would be bad." Yang smirked. "I don't know about you guys, but I don't think anyone would actually fit in there…well, except for maybe Nora or Ruby, and even that…" Yang cocked her head to the side, giving the matter some thought. "I dunno…maybe we should take it apart…"

"There will be no disassembling of the air duct." Ozpin said, though even that was good natured. "The fact of the matter is, I don't have any inclination to hurry the situation along. Boys will be boys after all, and sooner or later, he'll get hungry."

"He won't move, even if he does." Blake said as she scratched her arm nervously. She knew better.

"Speaking from experience?" Ozpin inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Blake bit back the stupidity of the situation. Of course humans wouldn't understand. Rubbing her eyes, she sighed. "Forgive me my bluntness, but would you come out of there if some crazy woman was trying to take your head off with a thing to beat animals?" When all eyes in the room leveled their gaze at her, she noticed one set of green eyes particularly hadn't taken her weapon into account. Blake just sighed "...I didn't think so…"

"Yang, you're good with young children." Glynda said as she climbed down the ladder. "You try to coax him out."

"What do you want me to do, roast him?" Yang climbed the ladder anyway, peeping in. He was hiding around the corner, well away from reach. She couldn't get a good view of him, but she couldn't just set him on fire either. The vent might have been industrial sized, but there was no way she was fitting in that thing. "Hey squirt, you in there?"

"Go away…" It was the most pathetic sound Yang had ever heard. It couldn't have been the same boy who chucked a dust bomb in her face earlier.

"Hey kiddo, it'll be okay. We're not gonna hurt ya." Feeling all the more guilty, she sighed. "I'll get ya some milk and cookies if you like…or maybe a pizza or something."

"Yang, move." Blake said when her ears picked up the distinct sound of a sob. Knowing he wasn't going to come down without a code word, she sighed. "I'll get him so long as you all don't go flicking your semblance around after I do…and hide that riding crop…" Her golden eyes leveled disapprovingly as Glynda. "You scared him with it."

"What are you going to do?" Yang asked curiously.

"Just shut up and watch." Blake climbed up, leaning in as far as she could without getting stuck herself. "Den mother seeking verification."

A growl was all that came from the boy, but she understood the fearful attempt perfectly. It was a cry for help, not so much pure aggression.

She pulled off the ribbon around her arm, tossing one half of it deep inside. "Use your nose…" She offered quietly enough not to be heard by anyone else but him.

He knew that smell, but he wasn't sure from where. It didn't smell malicious. It smelled clearly Faunus, and he took the chance. "Aero Auriferous." The boy said back, sounding petrified.

"Aero…" She smirked then. She knew that name. "It's me, Blake Belladonna…remember me? The one with the bow?"

He peeked around the corner, half trusting, half in disbelief. "Blake?" The woman in question had never been launched across the room so fast in her life, not even by Ruby. He curled himself around her tightly as she fought to keep them both upright. "Blake, Blake, Blake, Blake, Blake!" He rumbled gleefully low in his voice nuzzling her with his nose.

"Why is it that I'm always in the middle of this three ring circus?" Glynda muttered to herself, sure to keep her crop well out of his sight. "This is becoming ridiculous..."

"Just go with the flow." Yang shrugged. "Hey, Blake, how well do you know this little squirt?"

"Since he was a baby." Blake said, trying to pry her exuberant comrade off of her, quite unsuccessfully at that. "Some adults picked him up during…Aero stop that…a revolt in one of the mining towns…Aero stop…I was ten at the time…Aero, stop!" She hated when her instincts kicked in, but kick in they did as she swatted him to the floor and pinning him there, her nails dicking into the back of his neck. She yanked the hair there, giving him a stern, but not unkind look. "Stop now." She ordered. "These are humans, blend in."

"Okay!" The boy replied happily, as Blake let him up. He stood at her side then, still clinging onto her arm, but no differently than a human boy would. That didn't stop his ears from flicking though, shaking the cap on his head.

"Geeze, he's more unflappable than Ruby." Yang noticed with a smirk.

"Instinct." Blake said. That was all she was going to say on the matter too.

Ozpin said as stood from his desk. "Good, that makes my job easier." It was no sooner that the squeaking of the chair had the boy cowering behind Blake in an instant, a low rumble falling from his lips, but this time, it wasn't at all friendly. "Oh come now, surely I'm not as terrifying as to deserve all of that…"

The boy growled again, causing Blake to and Glynda to both sigh at length. It was going to be a long meeting...and one that in the end, would yield far fewer results than anyone had hoped for.

 **...**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

The thing someone had to remember about Faunus, was that they were very much animal-like beings as children. It came from their shared heritage, and lack of personable social skills. It was much easier to make a noise, rather than it was to learn to use their words effectively. Much of the time, they would rely on what was easiest to them, which unfortunately, helped to further the stereotype that Faunus were monsters.

Faunus knew intuitively that body language and action spoke more powerfully than words ever could. For all intellectual life forms, body language made up the largest portion of communication between species. With humans and Faunus, those same rules applied, but, with different views on the matter. Humans chose to rely heavily on verbal cues, while Faunus chose to rely on the physical.

This was why Aero responded much better to physical reprimand, rather than a stern talking to and loud noises. His ears were sensitive, but the back of his neck was not. Blake had pinned him down several times during the meeting to get her point across, but she would equally rub at his ears, or caress his chin with one of her knuckles to soothe him. Even after the meeting was over though, they were no closer to finding out information on the notorious leader, or why he wanted so much dust from the store.

Now Blake was gone though, and he was left with two very human women...

As a boy who had no desire to deal with humans, Aero did what he thought to be best. Scare them away with noises that were inherently animal by nature. Unfortunately for him, he was still just a child, so the roar that came out of his mouth was little more than an angry, open mouthed gravely squeak. As a fully grown adult, his voice would likely be a deep baritone, strong and mighty…his roar would be the same.

For now though, there was little more he could do than endure Yang's smothering hug.

"You're so cute!"

"Grr…"

"Oh, a tough guy, eh?" She said, holding him at arm's length. "Don't make me hug you again."

"Grrr~!" It waned into another squeak as he was pulled back into her nearly bone crushing embrace.

"Ha-ha, that's it little man. You keep growling, I'm gonna keep torturing you, that's the big sister's creed." Yang gushed, one arm around his torso, while her palm ruffled the top of his head none too gently.

"Let. Me. Go!" He finally hollered, and much to his relief, Yang let him go moments later.

"There, see now, all you gotta do is ask." She ignored the look that earned her. "You know, I always wanted a little brother." Yang said as she ruffled his hair one last time. She rabbed a bottle of juice off the side of the bed, tossing it to him.

He caught it carefully, sniffing it as if it were poisoned. He then backed away from it, curling back up into a ball then.

"Not thirsty either?"

"Rrr." That sound was almost petulant sounding.

"You name it, you got it." Yang told him. "I'll get you whatever you want...scout's honor."

Brown eyes only continued to give her a very unhappy little stare.

"If I did have a brother though, he wouldn't be so freaked out by me..." Yang wasn't about to give up, as she kept talking, thinking that if she did, he might get the idea. "Not that I don't love Ruby and all, but growing up, I was always afraid to play too rough with her." Yang continued with a bit of melancholy, distant, as if she had considered the prospect many times in her past. "She's never really been too outgoing, and as a kid, she was really shy."

"And you assumed having a younger brother would change that?" Glynda wondered aloud. She had been listening to Yang talk for a while now, and found the failed sentiment endearing, if little else.

"Well, I guess I always figured, if I could have a brother too, then it'd be perfect. Best of both worlds." Not that it mattered anymore. Yang had let go of that pipe dream when Summer Rose passed on. Their father never did settle back down, so Yang had no one to project that desire onto, letting it fall into realm of forgotten childhood fantasy. "I kind of inherited my dad's strength, so I always had to pull back…well, before Signal, anyway."

"I've heard the rumors." Glynda said preemptively. "Apparently Beacon's lunchroom isn't the only one you girls saw fit to terrorize."

"Oops…" Yang laughed, properly chastised.

"That puts the matter mildly." Glynda replied, but as she looked up from her laptop, she offered a fondness in her green eyes. "If you could somehow channel that need for undue havoc, I'm sure many people would be very grateful. Especially if you could direct that same sort of fortitude to your sister."

"Didn't think you heard about the Signal food fight..."

"Fights." Glynda corrected. "Plural."

"Yeah, well..."

"Thanks to you, I've heard it's become a tradition." Glynda continued. "I do hope Nora and Ruby don't attempt to perpetuate the act here."

"Yeah, uh, double oops." Yang laughed. "If it makes you feel any better, at least we kept it to food, and not...other stuff."

"Yes, we should be thankful for small favors, shouldn't we?" The elder conceded. "Though, the question remains, for how long? Thanks to your uncle, I know more about your upbringing than I particularly care to." Then her voice dropped to a bare murmur. "Especially in light of recent events."

"I so don't wanna know, do I?"

At this, Glynda paused again, weighing her words. It was only fair that Yang was well aware of just how deep that particular knowledge happened to go. "Considering your uncle's disposition, and your father's for that matter, it shouldn't be a shock. Do you honestly think you would have survived the onset of puberty otherwise?"

"Point taken…" Yang muttered, though it was mostly in good humor. Both of them were men among men, but Yang doubted that either one of them would know how to deal with the little eccentricities that popped up from day to day. "So, I take it you were the one who finally convinced dad to let me have a lock on my door…"

"Among many, many other things." Even that held traces of amusement. As if Glynda had dealt with one too many very drunken phone calls from Qrow about girl problems. "As interesting as their mortification might have been, however, it's starting to get late." Glynda said as she glanced at the clock. "Those are stories for another time."

"Curfew isn't for two more hours." Yang shrugged before lilac eyes widened. "Ohhh, you mean for the squirt…" She looked at him for a moment, curled up in the corner of her bed. It was the area furthest away from Glynda, and frankly the woman scared him. "Eh, no biggie, not like he's got to be anywhere." She turned to look at him. "Hey, Aero, you sleepy?"

His dark brown eyes stabbed into her, unwilling to consider the idea at all. Another half growl punctuated his displeasure.

Yang blinked. "So, is that a no?" If looks could kill, then she would be dead because of those dark brown eyes narrowing by the second. "Oookkkaaayyy then. Yep." She said, popping the 'P" sound at the end. "That'll be a no." She grinned then, pulling out her trump card. "Don't make me call Blake." Yang threatened softly, her tone as light as she could make it while keeping authority. "She is my best friend you know…she did tell you that herself, remember?"

He didn't respond, instead he crawled into the corner behind the bed, dragging the comforter along with him and cocooning himself in it.

"Yeah, I'd say the kid hates me."

"Understandable, given his upbringing." Glynda was too busy catching up on her mountain of work to be concerned, her green gaze focused once more. "You should get some rest too, Yang. We have an incredibly early day tomorrow. A few teams will be sent out on assignment, and Ruby's team's going to be one of them. They'll be shadowing you for this, so I suggest you get some rest."

"And let you stay up all night by yourself? Not hardly, I know you're not going to let yourself get any sleep with him around." Yang said knowingly, pointing to the boy in question. He might have been a flight risk, and they just couldn't chance it. Yang turned off the light, settling herself behind Glynda on the bed.

"Suit yourself." Glynda sighed, fervently typing away at the newest batch of incident reports.

Yang melted then, getting comfortable for the long haul. Resting her back against the headboard, she settled them both back into a relaxing embrace, her chin resting on her lover's shoulder all the while.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Fun blitz-off today, we only had 4 hours though, and my brain wasn't exactly in a thick plot mood so I chose to write some contextual scenes mostly...wanted to have a bit of fun with Ozpin...so I did. Some shipping for Glynda/Yang too. Though, enjoy it, because the next chapter, there won't be nearly as much romance, that I can attest to. Missions (plot) are coming up when we do the next blitz-off.

 **Day five, Chunk 1**

 **Same Ole Story**

Yang was an affectionate person in everything she did. So much so, that Glynda would claim that passionate became the operative word.

Yang was always overzealous, and more than willing to put herself up to grueling tests of willpower. Then again, many huntresses subjected themselves to it. Yang shouldn't be any different. All of that was well and good on the battle field. However, combat was not the only place that those qualities seemed to take hold of Yang.

It was in her daily life too. The small moments. Times when it didn't really matter if endurance or ability were a test of skill. Yang would live up to the occasion anyway, because that was simply Yang's way of living for the moment.

Which was why, even in the early hours of morning, Glynda wasn't shocked to feel that Yang was still awake. Still lavishing her with undivided attention, and subsequently her affection too. The older woman slowly become accustomed to the fact that if anyone was to seek affirmation from physical touch and reassurance, it was going to be Yang. It was as if the younger woman needed that gratification…needed it like she needed air to breathe, and could not go without out.

Furthermore, the reminder that Yang was not a virgin lingered in the back of Glynda's mind.

In spite of this, Glynda was not the type of woman to outwardly seek such affection. She was also not the type to show that side of herself freely, but, she would allow Yang's oddities. If those lopsided embraces, murmured words against her shoulders, and kisses along the nape of her neck mollified Yang's nature, then so be it. She would endure than not quite unpleasant clinginess that came along with it.

She would, however, attempt to subvert it, if she could. "Yang, go to sleep."

Yang's only reply to this was to lean down and plant soft kisses at the base of Glynda's neck. Breathing in that gentle scent. Perfume lingering only faintly, as it always seemed to. Her arms pulled her lover in tighter. She relished that feeling with a sigh, finger tips curling around the fabric of Glynda's pajamas.

"Yang?" She voiced when no sound came, twisting just enough to see the barely there scowl that tugged pouty lips in deep concentration.

Another puff of air, and Yang closed her eyes, hiding the emotion swirling there. Another kiss, another soft sigh, and one wayward palm, flat, and on a slow downward trajectory. Sinking under the soft cotton fabric that Glynda only chose while on missions…there was a child in the room after all…

That was another announcement to her overtly reserved nature. Yang paid no heed. Instead, that all too warm palm rested on Glynda's midriff. Thumb brushing tender skin.

"I take that to mean no." She closed the laptop. Nothing more would get done on that small yet powerful super computer. The overly large scroll also found a reprieve from overheating as she put the screen dark. "I have no more work to do tonight, but…" She flicked her gaze over to the sleeping boy. Aero was still cocooned, huddled in the far corner. "I still can't go to sleep. You should though, it would be good for you."

Yang nodded into her shoulder. Another shaky sigh, but with something else weaved in-between the breaths of air. A tiny, almost muted sound. Another kiss, and then unreasonably strong arms lifted Glynda. Raw power remaining completely gentle as Yang maneuvered the blankets from under them. Pulling them up as she settled Glynda in her lap. Their height difference would have made Ozpin chuckle, but there was a severity smoldering in Yang's eyes one more.

Something more than just affection, rougher around the edges than many of Yang's normal expressions. There was a small ring of glowing red bleeding into those lilac eyes. Her gaze was intense, her grip was too. Not enough to hurt, but enough to make escape difficult. Then, Yang leaned in, capturing a searing kiss.

This kiss demanded attention in the same way Yang's finger's did, as they settled Glynda's weight over her comfortably, and in doing so, they copped a better feel of Glynda's shapely hips. Yang's thumbs moving again, palms following after, brushing against exposed abs, slender and lean. She pulled away for a moment, her eyes glancing to that exquisite feeling.

They continued to glow a slow burn.

Then, Yang redoubled her efforts, there was teeth in her next kiss, possessive little nips, soundless and gentle, before tongue met tongue. Glynda's intake of breath between the kiss, that sharp inhale that pressed her already ample bosom out further, was what finally snapped Yang out of her stupor.

The wild edges of crimson cooled back into lilac, and that once demanding tongue slipped out to lick at her lower lip bashfully. Her teeth nipped it to do the same. Yang swallowed hard, stifling her initial reaction. "Sorry." She murmured, hotly.

Warm gusts of air ghosting across Glynda's collarbone, sent shivers down both their spines. Yang pressed a much more reserved kiss where her lips lingered. Then upon the nape of Glynda's neck, and then along her jaw. "I…" There were no words for Yang's actions. Her emotions were as alien to her as Grimm were to scientists. "…sorry…"

Concerned, Glynda spoke. "Whatever for?"

Yang shrugged. "Dunno what I was thinking, just kinda…" Another long pause. "I dunno."

This was not the first time a semblance manifested outside of battle, it would not be the last. Many semblances held innate reasons to show themselves, and those were often not within the master's control. Yang's eyes were windows to her soul. Having understood this, Glynda placed two fingers under Yang's chin, forcing them to meet eye to eye. Locked gazes, and words no easier to say, Glynda felt the pure gravity of her choice.

Being with Yang wasn't going to be easy, because like it or not, the girl had scars. Worst still, some of them were wounds, open and bleeding in a way only a fragile soul ever could. If Glynda were honest, she didn't know if she could heal them. She didn't know what else to do but to meet Yang's physical demand with one of her own. Pushing past the barriers known as inadequacy, insecurity, and inexperience.

Each one of them a burden on every huntress, and each one of them a rival that Yang, as she was now, would crumble against if this kept up.

Glynda leaned in for another kiss. This one softer, and she took the command of it, drawing a lazy sigh from her much younger lover. Yang was exhausted, even if she denied it. Emotionally, she was grasping onto the very ends of those tattered and wayward feelings. They made no sense to her, and she desperately wanted them to. She had been searching for those answers for a long while. Easily before Beacon, maybe even before Signal. Yang was shadowboxing foes that she couldn't defeat with exuberance alone.

Glynda kept this kiss, lingering and slow, was everything Yang didn't know how to be. She vowed to rectify that.

Yang fought against it, the drawl of such a steady, constant kiss. One that couldn't suffocate either of them, even as the moments dwindled by. Glynda refused Yang the luxury to pull away to take a breath, refused Yang the ability to do anything but submit. Glynda's fingers had slipped into her hair. If Yang pulled away now, she's be tugging at her precious tresses, and somehow, that was intimidating.

Finally, Yang realized, she had to exhale through her nose, breathe in the same way, and relax. Letting down her inhibitions. Shared puffs of air occasionally skittering across blushing cheeks, they breathed into the kiss, through it, mingled emotion and intimacy in ways that Yang had clearly not been prepared for. This was a connection far beyond the momentary heated passion.

This was trust. It was desire. A needy little sound left Yang's mouth, and Glynda pulled away.

"Stop thinking so hard, Yang." Glynda murmured. "I'm not going to abandon you."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Glynda had concluded several little things by the time morning came.

Ultimately, it was fear. That's why the red crimson in Yang's eyes seemed so haunting. Yang was afraid of consistency, afraid to hold onto what could so easily be lost. Unfortunately, the only cure for that was time. Time, and someone able to endure the span of it.

Clearly, Yang's flightiness was a product of adventure, but on a deeper level, it was a dark, gritty acceptance. A pure, unadulterated knowing instinct. Everyone would leave her side one day. Nothing was permanent. No matter how much Yang might hate it, change was inevitable…she might end up alone…so instead of pitting faith into a hopeful future, Yang lived in the fleeting moments.

She refused to hope anymore, refused to pray that something, or someone, might stick around.

Glynda was at a loss though, because knowing that, and knowing what to do about it, were two completely different things. Unfortunately for Glynda, there was only one person discrete enough to confide in. It just so happened that the man in question had a perverse joy in schadenfreude.

"Ozpin." Glynda sighed. "It's not funny."

"Oh, but it is." He flustered, holding back even more little snickers than before. "Truly, it is."

"I fail to see the humor."

"You'll forgive me." He said after he stopped snickering to himself. "It's merely that I've assumed wrongly over the years." He poured them both some tea before partaking one of the small breakfast cakes from the platter between them, he took a bite. "It's a blessing though, but allow me to have my eccentricities, all the same."

"I've never questioned them before..." She gave him something of an aggravated look. "Though, I fear ask what exactly you were assuming. You were cackling like a madman."

"Honestly, it's a relief to be wrong." He replied around the confection. "You are often a quandary, you know."

"That's even less comforting." Glynda told him, brushing away the terseness in her own tone. "Not to mention absurd."

"But, more gratifying." Ozpin stated as he completed the tasty morsel. "Or so I'd wager."

She lifted the cup of tea to her lips. "Oh? Care to elaborate?"

"Hmm?" He sounded, before finally nodding. "Yes, indeed…perhaps I should." He took another snack, placing it delicately on his saucer. "You are a very good friend to me, it's only natural I worry about you."

"Well, aren't you going to tell me why?" She pressed then. "I'm hardly incompetent. I've seen after myself for years."

"Because we are not infallible, Glynda. We are mortal, utterly susceptible to the world in which we live." He continued slowly, his voice thoughtful. "To loneliness, to illness, to Grimm." He let the weighty words fall as they may. "Long days spent in this line of work have, inevitably, dragged on to longer nights. I'd long since given up that you might actually find a reprieve from that…goodness knows everyone needs some form of comfort…some measure of solace."

She thought long and hard about it. Wasn't that exactly where her problem rested? "Yes, well, that doesn't help the situation at hand. It's not me that needs comforting, it's Yang."

"To be expected." The man claimed.

"It is." She could afford him that much. "The problem is, I've no idea how to put those fears of hers to rest."

"A good question. Allow me to play devil's advocate. She's young, you know. Lost by a very deep undercurrent that she cannot control." Ozpin replied carefully. "Did it ever occur to you that perhaps you might just be a flight of fancy?"

"A game? What else was I to think? I thought that's exactly what it was." She admitted. "At first, at any rate. Now though…"

"Hmm, I see." He said. It wouldn't be the first time she underestimated the newest batch of teams. Still, speaking that would raise her ire. Instead he considered the emotion of her words. Then he spoke gently. "And you don't believe that to be the case anymore? You think she's…" He avoided around the word love. It was too soon. "Particularly invested?"

"I'm beginning to think so." Glynda told him, with an air of self-loathing that was not only cynical, it was downright depressing. "I'm not used to this, I'll admit. Yang finds more and more ways to chip away at the life I used to know." She lifted her tea to her lips once more. "It hardly helps when she does the same with her own. The worst of it is, I doubt she truly realizes what she's asking of me."

He lifted a brow at that. "And, what may I ask, is she asking of you?"

"Oh, please, don't choose now to be daft." Glynda rolled her eyes. "What does any young woman eventually ask of a suitor?"

"It has reached such a level?" Now he was truly surprised.

Glynda's non-committal shrug spoke a great deal about what Yang had been hinting at. "I wouldn't say she's being coy about the matter, but she has inherited her mother's flagrant indiscretion for such things."

"And you've invested yourself as well by the sounds of it." Ozpin noted, testing her willingness to speak about the bedroom intrigue. "Which makes the beckoning of such forbidden fruit all the more tempting…and what a luscious fruit she must be…"

"Ozpin!" She chastised, mortified. "You shouldn't say things like that so casually."

One roguish little smirk later, and he knew he was asking for trouble. "As if you've never thought about it…"

"Why of all the…" At that remark, she began spluttering. "It's completely inappropriate to think of it, let alone to speak of it."

"Yet speak of it we must." Ozpin replied.

"And why _'must'_ we do that?" Glynda inquired darkly, her eyes burning holes in everything but Ozpin's own knowing gaze.

"Because as your friend, I am concerned…and before you go jumping to the wrong conclusion, it isn't Yang's condition that frightens me." He corrected his glasses, righting his stance. "It's yours, and I don't say that lightly."

She sighed at length. "You have nothing to be frightened about."

"But frightened I shall be." Ozpin murmured. "So perhaps you'll do me the honor of putting my fears to rest."

"You are an impossible man." Glynda relented the point. So he wanted to talk? She would do so, but only under protest.

"Honestly, you expect anything less?" He sighed. "It's been a long time since you've opened yourself up to another person. I sometimes wonder if you could. We're jaded people, Glynda. Leftovers waiting to be expunged when the right time comes…and make no mistake, there will be a time when more suitable powers rise to the occasion." At this, he grew quiet. He'd long assumed that Yang would be one of those people. Her heritage, her bloodline, demanded it of her. More than the girl knew, and more than he was willing to shove onto her shoulders at this time. "And, you are finding it all the more difficult to deny her, correct?"

"To put it mildly, yes." She told him, the edges of her voice still carrying outrage at his lewd assessment.

"An odd paradox, is it not? The two of you, so complicated, and yet so simple. It's a wonder that you don't assert yourself. You do so in every other aspect of your life." Ozpin murmured then between sips of tea and careful contemplation. "You can't protect her from the truth. So what if she does locate Raven and speaks to the woman? It changes nothing. If you're waiting for Yang to find herself, you're waiting pointlessly."

"You know that and I know that." Glynda bit out. "Yang on the other hand-"

"Isn't daft by any means." Ozpin interrupted, one finger upraised. He then lowered it, and folded his hands upon the table they shared. "You may say what you like about Qrow and his lack of sensibilities, but he knows exactly what Raven is capable of. Yang will be able to bear the brunt of it. She was raised to do so by her family." Without hesitation, he reached across, placing a hand over Glynda's own. "However, such logic dictates that if you cannot protect her, the only thing you can do is stand by her side. In all manners, and in all things…flagrant indiscretion included."

"I don't like what you're implying." Glynda couldn't even look up from the table, let alone meet Ozpin's gaze. She pulled her hand away from his. "It's ludicrous anyway…"

"Indulge my blunt rhetoric a moment please." He cleared his throat. "You have a rather demanding semblance. Use it and take her right against the nearest wall. Let reason give way to 'flagrant indiscretion' for once in your life, and make it count." He leaned forward then, peering over his dark shades. "Do whatever it takes. Make that point crystal clear, and do it as often as you need to."

When she finally did give him an angry look, her silences speaking volumes. Mouth agape like a fish, she had no retort for him. She blushed a deep crimson instead.

He kept his face as stern, showing no humor. What he offered in that moment was little more than clear, unpolished honesty. "If I had a beautiful woman seeking me for physical comfort, I'd take every opportunity to do so. I'd make such dear sweet love to her that she wouldn't even consider otherwise…I highly suggest you do the same…"

He would have continued, had his scroll not flared to life just then. A call seeking available hunters, no doubt. Such things happened often. He answered the scroll and in doing so, let his work consume him.

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Glynda was not the only one fated to have her friends meddle with fragile emotions. Blake was fated to undergo similar treatment, for vastly different reasons, though no one knew that at the time.

By late morning, Yang and several other hunters were gathered in the common room, waiting to pick up their students. It was a fairly straight forward day of shadowing, nothing too complicated. Yang had just never been on the opposite side of the clipboard. She would be doling out grades for various performances, and since she had her little sister's team, she knew she was under Ozpin's critical eye. Another test of his, no doubt, but one she would take anyway.

"I never thought being a huntress would be so boring." Ruby sighed, drowning in a mountain of paperwork.

"Trust me, I know, but this needs to be done." Yang said, leafing through documented Grimm sightings. "After you find enough sightings that match up, we check the map, see if it's in the area. If the Grimm and map match up, we kill it."

"And what about if we don't?" Blake asked darkly, having worked her way through four piles. Weiss was on her sixth. Yang just sat back, watching, and double checking their findings.

"Then we don't deploy anyone." Yang shrugged simply. "There are two kinds of hunters. Ones that stay near the cities, and ones that don't. Ozpin told me hunters in this area tend to stick close until they need to deploy in mass. Then we all get calls on our scrolls. Next thing we know we're out on assignment. According to Glynda, teams of sixteen aren't exactly uncommon."

"Not a surprise." Weiss added as she finished what she was supposed to do. "How often do you do this?"

"Every morning." Yang muttered distantly with a sigh. "Even this, you guys are being graded on it, and it's my job to evaluate how fast you do my daily jobs." Yang explained, waving around both her clipboard and her scroll. It came as no surprise that Ruby was dead last in all paperwork related testing. It also wasn't a shocker that Weiss took the least time, and was the most organized. Blake fell someplace in the middle. "Honestly, I think this is more of a test for me than for you. Need to follow it though."

"Is that really such a surprise?" Weiss asked her.

"What's that's supposed to mean?"

"Yang, you've done nothing but test your thinly held alliance to Ozpin ever since you graduated." Blake sighed at length.

"Precisely!" Weiss agreed fervently. "I'll bet he's using you as leverage, not a bad idea, really. You're his eyes where he can't see, so to speak. A truly insightful concept, both literally and figuratively speaking."

"Guys, come on..." Ruby didn't want to believe it. "That's a horrible thing to say."

"But, it's probably true." Blake attested slowly. "I still don't like it by the way."

"Nothing we can do about it right now, Blake." Weiss said, trying and failing to be comforting. "In situations such as these, balancing the power is all about biting your tongue."

"Well maybe I'm tired of doing that…" Blake hissed.

Weiss just sighed. "Tough cookies, chew harder."

"Weiss!" Ruby was giving her a look that Yang couldn't decipher.

"I'm not saying that to be a bitch." Weiss argued, rolling her eyes. "I'm saying that, because that's how this kind of thing works. Trust me, if there's one thing I've learned about dealing with men in power, it's that." She moved all of the paperwork aside, fixing Blake with a hard look. It wasn't entirely unkind though. "You bow your head and do what you're told on the surface. It's an act of diplomacy, and let's face it, we could do so much worse than having Goodwitch around."

For all that Yang had been about to step in, she felt her defensiveness die out. Weiss was right. "She's got a point." Yang said softly, almost feeling guilty for not siding with her old teammate. "That's really what all of this boils down to. You don't want the admins to get in the mix…but the fact is, they already kinda were…they're gonna be, because Ozpin really does want to look out for you."

"How can you be so damn sure?" Blake for the life of her, couldn't figure that part out. "How can you just stand there and mitigate years of fighting, years of questionable acts, and all of my felonies…"

"They haven't turned you in yet, have they?" Weiss asked.

"To hold it over my head." Blake shot back. "Like you said Weiss, it's a balance of power. They've got it, they hold all the cards. I can't fight against them, or I'm in jail…maybe even worse."

"I don't think Ozpin's that kind of person…" Ruby trailed, looking to Yang, who was busy clenching and unclenching her fists.

"I'm deploying on a mission later on this afternoon…but you know what Blake…." She looked up at the monitor, weighed the risks. White Fang activity would be non-existent. She could afford to leave Blake behind. "I'm going to ask to have you assigned over to Glynda. You were supposed to follow me into the woods, but I think it might be better if you go with her."

"You've got to be kidding. I'm not shadowing her." Blake protested. "Not by myself!"

Weiss couldn't help but agree. "That's a powder keg waiting to happen."

"Already is." Yang shot back. "Might as well blast the friggin' thing open." With confidence that was only halfway there, she rested her palm on Blake's shoulder. "One mission with her…that's all I'm askin' you to do…but you've gotta give her a chance. Don't go getting heckles raised over small things. You respected her before all of this…so just remember that. I mean, come on, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Famous last words." Weiss said and Yang's scroll alarmed.

It was time for the mission briefing. She cursed to herself. This was going to be a pain. "Speak of the devil. We're headed to Ozpin's lower office. The one he uses for school related stuff."

They didn't need to be told twice, although, it was strange to be taken there over simple mission assignments. The questions that lingered on the tip of Ruby's tongue died when Weiss shook her head at the girl. They were meant to be obedient and shadow a huntress. The fact that it just so happened to be Yang didn't matter. Asking pointless questions about Ozpin's eccentricities wouldn't do anyone a bit of good.

"What kind of mission is this?" Ruby settled for instead.

"Standard delivery stuff." Yang said with a shrug. "You guys are likely to be bored."

The four of them made it to Ozpin's office in record time, but they weren't the only ones to receive a call. Oobleck stood at the ready, team JNPR at his side. Port was also there, the much more advanced team CFVY behind him. All stood at the ready, waiting for orders. Port's group was issued a simple field call, taking out a few outlying Grimm nests that stood to over populate if left alone for too long. Oobleck and his group was issued a survey sight to oversee, and report back any findings of suspicious activity. With both of those groups dismissed quickly, so came the mission Yang both eagerly awaited, and dreaded all the same.

She'd been eyeing the clock, and she knew Ozpin had been keeping an eye on her fidgeting.

"Yang…you and your subordinates have a very special mission, as you've been made aware." He slid a small chip forward. "That needs to be taken care of. You know to whom it should go, as detailed by the briefing outlined in your scroll."

"Yeah, no biggie." Yang agreed.

He nodded, asking the usual question. "Do you or your wards have any questions based on the parameters specified?"

"Nope." Yang said, though she tossed a look over her shoulder to Blake. "Though, I do have a bit of a...thing...regarding team assignments."

"Oh?" He lifted a brow to this.

"I wanna pass Blake off to Glynda." She said. "You're giving her a mission today too, right?"

"That is correct." He said, looking over to Glynda who had merely shrugged. It was the first she'd heard of this herself. With no answer to be found by eye contact alone, he voiced his now most pressing question. "Why would you feel the need to segregate a member of the team? It goes against the teamwork we try to instill here at Beacon."

"Eh…depends how you look at it." Yang said cryptically. She wasn't the best at finesse, but even she could give a pointed look to Ozpin in a way that he understood. "Think she'll be better suited to Glynda's job, rather that walking the beat…might…uh…prove a point I was trying to make earlier, is all."

"Is that so?" He looked to Glynda then. "I see no issue with it…do you?"

"Permission to speak to my partner please?" Glynda asked crisply.

"Granted." Ozpin no sooner said this, that she forcefully dragged Yang out of the room seething. "Just what are you thinking?" Glynda muttered so her voice didn't echo in the empty hall. "You know my mission involves sensitive information pertaining to one very _particular_ criminal organization."

"That's the point." Yang sighed.

"So I've gathered." Glynda scowled. "I have no idea what on earth you're trying to accomplish, but this isn't the way to go about it."

"You're taking that kid someplace right?" Yang asked then. "Someplace safe?"

"That is the primary objective..." The older of the two finally admitted, careful with her tone. "We can't very well turn an orphan out on the street. Nor can we keep him here, there's too much activity. Too many active risks involved with the White Fang already. There is a place, however, that'll be safe."

"Don't you think that's the kind of thing Blake needs to see?" Yang leaned on the door to Ozpin's office. "Look, she's scared, okay? I can't fix that…I want to…but I can't." She forced out a puff of air. "And that scares me…if I can't keep Blake on the same page as us, I can't keep her from doing stupid things…and if that happens they'll follow her…Ruby will follow her."

"And you assume I can ease all of her disquiet by taking her with me?"

"Course not."

"Then what do you think is going to happen?"

"She'll figure herself out."

"Yang…"

"No, trust me." She said, holding up one gloved and armored hand. Lilac eyes dropped to her weapon, checking the chambers out of habit alone. "She's that kind of person. She's quick to fight…but she's quicker to explain herself if she thinks she's got a chance of clearing her name. You take her on this mission, you'll get a chance to get her alone…maybe talk about the stuff she won't tell me."

Glynda mulled this over, understanding the logic, but not entirely liking what Yang had to say about it. "Make the usual chip drop run, and take Belladonna with you. Once I meet with my contact, I'll send you the coordinates for a place to meet me. If you still feel so inclined to press this issue further, you'll be able to then…however, given the nature of this mission, I'd advise you keep the other two out of it."

"Yeah…" Yang sighed, taking a breath. "Okay."

"I mean it Yang." Glynda urged. "You'll put Ruby and Weiss at risk...keep them uninvolved, even if that means handing them misinformation."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Only 1 chunk today, the blitz-off only lasted 5 hours…plot development, mostly. Sorry fluff and romance fans, you'll have to wait for the next blitz-off later this week.

 **Blitz day 6, Chunk 1**

 **Same Ole Story**

The smell of blood pricked their noses with the sickening metallic scent. There was a lot of it.

It dripped along the ground, tinged in the color of aura, darkening to crimson as the glow faded. Ruby hissed in pain, wincing as she sidestepped an attack that could have been worse. Back to back, she heard Weiss curse.

"Ruby…"

"It's fine."

"It damn well better be." Yang called from off to the side as she barreled her way in front of her little sister, taking a harsh blow to the gut from one small, but angry death stalker. "Heal that gash faster, Ruby, never mind fighting."

Ruby wasn't keen to listen, her aura flaring, and her lips turning to a frown. "I'm trying!" She called, frustration and exhaustion mingling. She had no choice to watch the next few events as she cupped her sliced wrist. Yang got knocked backwards, flat onto her ass. It was what Yang was hoping for, Ruby was sure.

The glow of Yang's semblance phasing in and out from around her body. She flew forward in that instant, one harsh punch, breaking the overgrown scorpion's claw clean off. She didn't stop there, another punch pulverizing the soft innards of the Grimm.

The screech it made was filled in agony and rage.

It flung Yang to the side effortlessly once more. Her job was done though, she could do no more with her blunt fists as weapons.

Ruby charge forward in that instant. A sickening crunch made the girl shiver as she swallowed back a mouthful of bile. It didn't matter how many time she heard the sound of a carapace truly shattering. It would always make her want to vomit. "Ewww…" She cringed, trying to wiggle her scythe out of the thick, protective, shell. "I hope we don't run into too many of these buggers."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Blake said, scanning the forest ahead. "Odd behavior for a death stalker."

"Uh, not really…" Ruby murmured. "Remember the one we took out before."

"That one, Ruby, was provoked by Jaune and Pyrrha, if you'll so recall." Weiss explained haughtily. She took a few steps towards the large creature that was well on its way to disappearing into tiny black particles. "This one was a juvenile. Otherwise, you wouldn't have had such an easy time cutting through the thick armor it had."

"What even provoked it out of the den anyway?" Blake asked, seeing nothing, and feeling uneasy because of it.

"Dunno, but I'm not sticking around to find out." Yang emptied the casing of her beloved weapon, a satisfied little smile gracing her lips when the smell of gunpowder reached her nose. She eyed Ruby's injury. It was good as new. "Okay, let's move."

They followed Yang, trudging forward in the thick forest with the same determination that covered all missions. Ruby was right behind her older sister, while Blake and Weiss maintained a slightly slower pace, shoulder to shoulder. The walk was quiet, no words among them as they kept an eye out for any dangers that might be lurking in the shadows. There was a practiced ease the four of them shared, a synergy that wouldn't easily be forgotten.

Blake was almost all too happy to fall into old routines, until she paused, eyes wide. What _was_ that? She couldn't ask anyone. Her ears were better than the rest of her team, and she had to have mistaken that sound.

"Blake?" Weiss stopped too, and so did the sisters.

"What is it Blake?" Yang said, noticing that the bow atop the girl's head was beginning to twitch ever so slightly.

"Sounds like…" Blake shook her head. "But it can't be…never mind."

They began to walk again. Hardly a few steps later, explosions rang out in the distance. This time everyone heard it. Blake's ears flicked back from the noise. Yang stopped dead in her tracks, looking to see the billowing smoke coming from the north.

"Yang?" Ruby said nervously. "What's that?"

"Bad news, by the looks of it." Yang murmured.

"What are we waiting for then?" Ruby asked. "Let's go."

She shot ahead of the group like a bullet, her cape twirling around her as she cut through the air with precision and speed. The rest of them followed close behind, Yang cringing at her sister's propensity to play the hero at every turn. Not that Yang didn't understand it, because she most certainly did. Then again, even she wasn't crazy enough to charge headlong into the battle awaiting them.

Another blast boomed, echoing along the skyline. Flying birds of all types, some Grimm and some not, fluttered away to avoid the black smoke issuing from the bomb site. Ruby skidded to a halt when she saw the black mass in front of her. A pack of Grimm, the likes of which she had never seen before.

"Get behind me." Yang said, pushing ruby out of the way as the small beasts charged forward, the little creatures both cute, yet possibly deadly. Yang jumped up and shot her fist down, knocking back the little angry Grimm. "What in the hell are these things?"

"Rodent variety." Blake said with an air of understanding. She could smell the stench. Not quite rat, but definitely a pray…or what would have been so, if it wasn't for their soot-black bodies, and crimson eyes. "They reek of it."

"Never seen these little bastards before, but they're going down…" Yang muttered, giving her little sister a look. "You thinkin, what I'm thinkin'?"

They shared a smirk as Ruby began to get excited. "Yeah."

There was something about fighting with the four of them as a unit. Something Yang couldn't aptly describe with every swing of her fist, or sidesteps that made way for one of her friends. By instinct, Weiss was at her side. Yang was flinging herself up into the air once more, this time, to obliterate the mound of solid ice beneath her feet, causing the ground to buckle and fracture in reply.

She didn't stop there, her movement fluid as back to back, she and the fencer darted off into the white mist they jointly created.

At Blake's side, she uprooted more of the little terrors, gunning them down one by one. The Faunus ran a distance, tossing her weapon that Yang grabbed on instinct. She knew intuitively what Blake wanted her to do. They'd use the ribbon of Gambol Shroud to herd the wayward little devils to their demise, and so she picked up speed, corralling them towards Ruby and Weiss.

The battle was longer than it was difficult, dust blasts toppling nearby trees, and gunfire to ring out to anyone who might be nearby. Soon though, the skirmish was over. The last of the small Grimm slowly falling to pieces, its remains scattering in the soft winds.

"That was too easy." Blake murmured, her tone void of any cockiness.

"Speak for yourself." Yang groused, spitting into the nearby bush. There was nothing worse than eating dust, which she always, always ended up doing. The grittiness lingered in her mouth, the flavor as disgusting as one might expect from the icy remains of freezerburn. It was just as cold on the tongue too. "Hell, at least it wasn't that yellow dust..."

"That would have you talking a mile a minuet. Be thankful for small favors." Weiss said, kneeling down to get a better look at the dispatched Grimm. "Almost reminds me of a marmot…if marmots lived in these kinds of woods."

"Who says that they don't?" Yang said, kneeling down beside her. "We don't deal with a lot of the smaller Grimm varieties because they just aren't all that dangerous to us."

"Well, they were aggressive today it seems." Blake said.

"Think it's one of the other teams, Yang?" Ruby asked. "Maybe JNPR fell down one of their burrows or something."

"Not impossible." Weiss agreed. "That would easily explain why they were all out in the open…"

"Well, seems like we'll find out soon enough." Yang shrugged. "Let's get going, we still have a delivery to make, and that's the primary objective."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Yang wasn't happy about the forest mission, there was something decidedly weird about it. Intensely so, in fact. The Grimm were all in bad moods, and the normal animals weren't any better, fleeing away from contact, or snarling in defense of their homes. Yang's eyes were focused, her ears trained on the banter of her sister and her friends…but her mind…that was as far away from her objective as it could be.

Still, she wasn't about to belittle Glynda for having particular orders.

The mission was simple, would last overnight at most. All they had to do was deliver a chip that contained residue from Ozpin's aura. From there, the receiver of the chip would use this aura to send a wave of it from under the ground. Using seismic energy to carry the wave was something that would do little harm to the environment, but would keep smaller Grimm from wandering into the populated districts of the cities.

As for the larger ones…that's what Port and CFVY were for. Culling the numbers was only one job of many though, and Yang looked at her other job with thinly veiled trepidation. Her scroll buzzed, and the information that Glynda had promised lingered there. She had to get her own mission done first, then, she could go help Glynda deal with the Faunus boy.

"When we meet up with our contact Ruby, don't get all hyped up." Yang warned her, knowing who she was going to be giving this particular chip to. "A lot of what hunters do ends up being cloak and dagger kind of stuff. Especially _his_ type of work."

"Who are we meeting anyway?" Weiss piped up, struggling with all of the secrecy. She wasn't used to it. At least not from Yang, who prided herself on being an open book.

"Someone we can trust." Yang explained, glancing over her shoulder. "You, uh, checked the mission logs I set to your scrolls, right?"

"We couldn't open some of the files though." Ruby attested with a shrug. "Kinda made every look a little weird."

"If you couldn't open them, it means you don't have the clearance." Yang thought then, shrugging. "Must be cause you're first years…though, it could also be because of who he is."

"Which you still haven't told us, by the way." Weiss lamented.

"We'll find out soon enough." Blake said, though her nose was beginning to catch a whiff of something. She wasn't sure what it was, but it wasn't the best thing to waft by her nose. A mix of gutter, and something else. Stale booze perhaps. She wouldn't be surprised.

"We're here…" Yang said, as they reached the campsite. The man they were looking for was nowhere to be found, but the fact that there were empty liquor bottles everywhere only spoke a testament to who was camping out. "Well, Ruby…give you three guesses…"

Ruby grinned, there was only one man on the face of this planet that drank this much, whom she also happened to know. "Sleeping bag?" Ruby asked Yang. Her uncle had to be one very hung over man to drink that much.

"Sleeping bag." Yang agreed.

"I don't want to know, do I?" Blake murmured as the sisters unzipped the tent.

"Uncle Qrow!" Everyone winced at Ruby's excitement.

"No, Blake…you really didn't." Weiss sighed, though she really should have known.

"Number zero-zero-two, for this operation." Qrow grumbled, rubbing the side of his face in agony. He niece could always do a number on his hearing. Struggling, he fought for clarity amongst the hangover. "Getting bigger on me again, Ruby." He said, more under his breath than to her. "One day, you'll squash me." Then he righted himself, poured a bottle of water over his head, and scrubbed his face properly. "Didn't expect you to bring the whole crew, Yang. What gives? Ozpin put you up to this?"

"Yeah." Holding the chip between her fingers, she sighed, watching her uncle take it. He placed it inside a little pouch for safe keeping. "I didn't ask why I was the one sent out here. Guess I assumed that wasn't exactly something I needed to worry about."

"Doesn't answer my question…"

"I dunno what Ozpin was thinking." Yang explained lightly, grinning at her uncle's obvious headache. "They're just with me because of the bi-monthly shadowing missions."

He looked to Ruby and the crew. "Gotcha." He muttered, not all too happy to see his youngest niece on this particular mission. "There are back-ups around here, right?"

"Couple teams…I wouldn't go full ham if I were you though." Yang said with a bit of a grin. Her uncle in combat was a sight to behold, and Glynda wasn't at all joking when she said he could cause massive destruction if he wasn't careful. "Might level the place, wouldn't want that…well, _I_ wouldn't at least."

"I don't want you around here anyway when this thing goes off." Qrow bantered darkly. "Get your rookie asses' outta here, leave it to the pros."

"I think Ozpin wanted them to observe…" Yang said slowly.

Qrow merely gave her a look. "You kids stay there a sec." He said directly to Ruby as he slung an arm around his oldest niece. With his gait unsteady, they walked several paces…well away from the team. If they stayed, he knew it would cause him a world of trouble. Well-meaning trouble, surely. Yet still trouble none the less. Once he was satisfied, he pulled out his hip flask, angry that he had already emptied it. "Firecracker, listen close…there are monsters far worse than Grimm roaming around. Besides, I'm not a fan of letting a bunch of pip-squeaks do my job…and it is _my_ job, Yang."

"What kind of monsters…"

"Don't play stupid…" Qrow told her. "Only one kind of monster, and I don't want you around her either."

Yang licked her lips. "Glynda told me Raven keeps coming around Beacon…"

"She said right."

"Can you tell me if Raven…." She took a breath. "Has she been following me?"

Qrow wasn't entirely sure. "I ain't her god-damn keeper, no matter what Ozpin or Glynda think about the matter." He groused, sighing when he realized that such venom would be lost on Yang. "If you want to talk monsters, though, you're on the right track. People, anarchists, the forest runs the gambit, and I don't want you dealing with that."

"Well, we kind of...have...been dealing with that." Yang crossed her arms and shrugged then. "The Grimm are really restless."

"No worries, you gave me what I needed to keep the Grimm at bay." He explained, waving the little pouch with the chip inside. "That was the extent of your mission. It's been completed, go home."

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Am I?" Qrow shot back. "This is your first mission being shadowed. Ozpin was probably keeping the training wheels on…good thing too. Mission over. You did what you set out to do…"

"And you really want us out of this forest…meaning something huge is about to go down." Yang clenched her fists. It could be anyone, or anything. "So who is it? Raven? White Fang? Radicals from the independent villages looking to start a skirmish about Schnee Company resources? Boarder disputes about the outlying mines?"

"Take your pick." The man said lowly. "You aren't going to be wrong. All of 'em are in this forest…though god knows where…and the moment I set this damn thing off, those Grimm are going to beeline in all directions away from the source. Matters will be made worse for those independent factions…and don't think there won't be a pissing match because of it."

"We can help dispatch the Grimm, you know." Yang offered.

Qrow shook his head. "Nah, leave it to the pros Yang…call it a job well done."

"Is that a direct order?" Yang murmured, not liking this one bit.

"It's a request…" Qrow said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "They're good…you're good…but none of you are _that_ good. Why do you think there's so many Beacon faculty around here, Yang? You think it's just for the Grimm?"

Yang shook her head. "To cull their numbers sure…but…that's not it…wouldn't need that many." She took a moment to think. The answer came to her. Port was here, Oobleck too. Both of them were smart fellows. If anyone might be able to deal with the upset that this would cause, it would be them. Qrow was not, by definition, a people person. She gave her uncle a grin then, one that was full of its own bitterness as it graced her lips. "Ozpin's got them dealing with your damage control…"

"Right." He said, looking Yang up and down. "What's say we don't give 'em more than they bargained for…because you people…" He looked back to the trio by the camp. "You wouldn't know subtly if it bit ya in the face."

"Look who's talking..." She shot back, mirroring his sarcastic grin.

"No shit, Firecracker." He gave her a shove in the right direction. "So go on, get the hell outta here…and keep outta trouble."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Raven was in this forest…that alone was enough to set her blood boiling…but she couldn't go after her.

Not now.

Not with Ruby right there.

It was too dangerous, and even though Yang wasn't willing to compromise Ruby's safety, she couldn't help feel a twinge of something akin to resentment. It wasn't aimed at her sister though, not by a long shot. Not at Glynda or Ozpin either…but aimed directly at herself…and at Qrow. He wanted to protect her. She knew that. Just like she wanted to protect Ruby.

It was the only reason she didn't fly off the handle and disappear into the forest. Ruby was still her baby sister. They were still a family, and for right now, Yang's job was to keep this three man team from getting into too much trouble. Once again, she was shoved into a protective role, and once again, she cursed herself for being in such a position. Not because she didn't want to be there, but because she couldn't risk taking any chances.

…not without being reminded of how easily that could get Ruby killed…and not _just_ Ruby this time, either.

Yang put on a fake smile, she was used to doing that. A simple little plastered on grin, and Ruby was quick to follow behind, just like always. Weiss and Blake saw through the façade. Truth be told, Ruby probably did too. Their dynamic as sisters squashed down any questions Ruby might ask. Unfortunately for Yang, the same couldn't be said for Blake.

They made it to the outskirts of the forest before nightfall, but as expected, they'd have to make camp, and so they did. Grimm were flying overhead, ignorant of the fact that the humans below were considering killing them.

Ruby gazed at the large bird-like beast through her scope. "Betcha I could blast that thing in the eye."

"Even if you could, all that would do is mildly agitate it." Weiss yawned, rolling over. "Go to sleep, Ruby. Blake's the only one able to keep watch from this angle anyway."

"Yeah…" Ruby murmured. "Probably right…but still. I mean, look at it. It's just right there."

Blake offered the Grimm a passing glance, but her eyes were focused on the small fire they'd made, and the cooking pot that simmered over it. She wasn't a fan of river fish, she much preferred the large oceanic ones, but, she had caught what she could. The river fish were skewered upon sharpened sticks, and packets of freeze dried soup bubbled away.

Honestly, the rations tasted like chalk. Not the most glamourous meal by far, that was for sure. If it wasn't for the bouillon cubes Weiss kept in her pack, Blake doubted it would even be palatable. Still, they all could use a proper meal, no matter how bad it tasted.

She stirred the concoction once more. "That Grimm is bigger than you think it is." Blake stated to Ruby, who kept an eye on it with her sniper's scope. "We don't have the man power to kill that one. We'd probably need JNPR."

"Doesn't look all that much bigger than the one we killed during initiation." Ruby said, popping a wild berry into her mouth.

"Hmm, well, it's twice the size I'll bet. It's considerably high in the sky." Blake said after another glance upward. "It doesn't care about us, so it's probably not the type to care about cities either…I'd leave it be."

"Why do you think they grow so big?" Ruby wondered aloud in awe.

"I don't know, Ruby." Blake admitted as she glanced around, her eyes far superior in the darkness. Weiss was already napping in her sleeping bag. Yang was out gathering firewood nearby. She plucked one of the already cooked fish and handed it to Ruby. Then she grabbed one for herself. In two metal cups, she poured some of the soup, and sat next to the girl. "It's not something I think about if I don't have to."

"Huh…" Ruby murmured quietly to herself. Her slate colored eyes turned to Blake then, head cocked to the side curiously. "Well, do you think they ever stop growing then?"

"I don't think that's something we'll ever really know." Blake explained distantly, her golden eyes focused back on the dancing fire. "Grimm are always going to be a mystery, that's why we call them creatures in the first place…we're not meant to understand."

"Aw, come on…you don't really believe that, do you?"

"Actually, yes." Blake said softly, almost distantly. "I do." Gentle and cool, like the very air that wafted on by. The gale of those large flapping wings that soared on high crested over them. "We can't ever know everything about Grimm, even when we learn as much as we can. Things change…people adapt, animals too. Grimm probably change even faster."

"Oh…I never thought of it that way." Ruby nodded then. She took a few sips of her soup, fixated on the beast overhead once more. "Ever wonder what it eats?"

"As long as it isn't me, I don't exactly care." Blake muttered, eyeing the large Grimm once more as it made its way into the deep woods. "All I care about right now, is what we eat…you skipped lunch."

"So did you."

"Actually, Ruby, I had an energy bar. So did Weiss." Blake pointed out. "Yang should eat too. Although, trying to get her to do anything is pointless when she's in a bad mood."

Ruby nodded, then glance off to the side, sipping on the warm broth again hesitantly. It still tasted a little bitter, not at all what Blake could usually do in a kitchen. Taking another taste, she then hesitantly tried the fish, something she'd never eaten when cooked in such a manner. Then again, she'd never eaten anything with eyes before. "Uh, Blake?"

"Huh?" Her cat-like gaze fell to the fish in Ruby's grasp. "Oh, think of it like a piece of corn. Just be careful of the bones." Blake said encouragingly as she dug into her own meal, her sharp teeth chomping away at the morsel in front of her. "Eat around them."

"No…not that…I mean…" Ruby looked out into the forest. She couldn't see Yang from her perspective. She could hardly see Weiss when the sun faded. "Are we…uh…alone?"

Blake glanced to the distance. "Yang isn't too far away."

"Think she'll come back this way soon?" Ruby asked.

Blake just rolled her eyes. "Let me guess…you're tired."

Ruby nodded.

"Finish your dinner, then you can get comfortable." Blake resigned, realizing for not the first time how much her habits had changed. Now she was looking out for the youngest among them.

Then again, fussing over Ruby was always Yang's job. Blake didn't have time to dwell. Ruby's semblance kicked in, eating quickly enough that rose petals showered the ground upon which she sat. She hulled herself into a warm sleeping bag and nestled into Blake's side. "You're warm." Ruby laughed slightly.

One cat ear flicked from under the bow. Blake squashed down her instinct to scoot away from the cuddly human. She stayed put, dutifully using her own sleeping bag as an extra barrier between herself and her far too innocent leader. Still, Ruby managed to wiggle her way closer and closer, until her head was in Blake's lap. Somehow, her arms had fastened themselves around Blake's midsection.

The Faunus wasn't happy about that either, but what else was she supposed to do? Push the girl away? Not hardly. With an aggravated little sigh, she continued to read her book, keeping an ear out for any movement that spoke of danger.

Yang came back to camp, wood in hand, to see such a sight. That fake grin she'd maintained for hours crashed at the sight of her little sister curled against Blake. She dropped the wood near the fire. Kneeling down, her words went unspoken until after she'd let the image sink in. "Soo…you and Ruby…"

"I have no idea what you're thinking about." Blake said quietly. "Whatever it is, you can forget it."

"Nothing doing…" Yang said. "You guys a thing, or aren't you? Be honest." The words came out harsher than she liked, but it had been eating away at her.

"Idiot..." Blake deadpanned, going back to her book.

"Hey, I've got a right to know." Yang told her, her voice growing serious. This was the last straw. "Are you screwing my little sister? Yes, or no?"

"No...not even close." Blake insisted, but in doing so, she let her hand fall protectively into Ruby's short, dark tresses.

"Then what the hell is _that_?"

Blake bristled at the implication. "We're not a _thing_ Yang…She's my team leader, my friend…that's all."

"If I find out otherwise…"

"What are you going to do, beat me to death?" The Faunus shot back before sighing deeply. "I've told you the truth." Starting a fight with Yang over her little sister was the last thing she wanted to do. "She's lonely…I put up with it…don't go getting twisted ideas."

Lilac eyes drifted towards the glimmering firelight, yang poked it with one of the longer sticks, testing the coals before tossing in more fuel. She was soundless during that time, wanting little more than to be back at the dorm. To bury herself in Glynda's embrace, and forget all of the negativity flowing through her mind.

It hadn't been all that long ago when it was Ruby who forced her to see the bright side of things. When her little sister was the one bright part of an increasingly complicated lifestyle. "I just don't like letting go." Yang finally murmured. "To me, she's still just a baby…and even though I know she's not…"

"She's a good kid…" Blake said with a shrug.

"But she's not really a kid anymore." Yang murmured. She'd known that for a while. "You don't really see her that way, do you? You're only saying it that way to make me happy, right?"

"Do I see Ruby as a child?" Blake shook her head. "I thought we established that. Age isn't a factor, mindset and ability…that's what makes an adult, an adult." Blake looked down at Ruby. "But, I think she's still too pure hearted. Innocent, I guess, in ways children I'm used to most certainly aren't."

"But she's not like you…" Yang forced out. "She didn't have that kind of past."

"Her past was enough, wasn't it?" Blake contemplated then. "It didn't need to be worse."

The brawler blinked, the implications were a great many, all of them sickening. "I don't even want to know what you mean by that."

Blake seemed undaunted. "Yours too…either one of you could have ended up with blood on your hands." Her eyes slipped closed. "If coddling her keeps her from becoming that kind of person, then it's a small price to pay. Besides which, co-sleeping isn't an uncommon thing for me to do, even if I don't make a habit of seeking it out." How many times had she curled up with the smaller members of the White Fang on rainy nights? How often did they end up huddled under her bed during skirmishes…and how many times, when she was small, had she done the same?

She doubted she could have counted anymore. Ruby's cuddling was merely a reminder of difficult times, and that was perhaps the most taxing part of the burden.

"Her nightmares have been coming back, haven't they?" Yang pressed then. "What about breakfast, she's eating more than just cookies or that god awful cereal, right? And you've been making sure there's not too much chocolate in her milk..."

Blake opened her eyes once more, again looking down to the girl half in her lap. There was a reason Blake allowed the proximity, even if she didn't speak it out loud.

"The night after you left, she ended up crying in her sleep…it freaked Weiss out. Ruby just kept…thrashing around in her sleep." Blake reported, her words uneasy. "We thought the dreams might let up, but they didn't. Truth be told, it was hard to watch."

"Summer…" Yang voiced knowingly. Distantly, half of a sigh cracking the edge of the name. "She doesn't remember her like I do, but she remembers enough. She definitely recalls the forest incident I told you about. Her dreams take her back to those things, I think..."

Blake nodded. "I used to ignore when she would sneak into your bed, but, since you're not there anymore…" Blake trailed off. "I thought this was what you would want me to do…"

Yang sighed...

Was it?

Blake and Weiss both had a soft spot for Ruby, but they were older. A little wiser, and from places that just lacked the kind of environment that the siblings had always been subjected to. "Look, I'm happy you're watching out for her." If Yang were honest, she half expected Ruby to try to cling onto Weiss, not Blake. "I just don't want her to lose focus because she's got some weird crush, or something, that's all…"


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: The blitz-off was supposed to happen Saturday for 6 hours, but sadly that didn't happen. It got changed around to tonight instead. I have to get up early tomorrow for work, so I won't have time to post the second chunk tonight, but I promise to get that up before the next blitz-off session.

 **Day 7, Chunk 1 (of two)**

 **Same Ole Story**

Yang was exhausted, and her day had only begin.

More Grimm were expunged in forest when the morning light graced the sky. The sounds of distant fighting reminded Yang that there were other teams out there, and they would be doing their jobs for the rest of the day. Hell, maybe even into the next if things were too crazy. Her charges, however, faced very few threats. The most annoying ones took the shape of dilapidated trees that were finally crashing down around them.

The angry forest inhabitants certainly knew how to kick up a fuss.

The brawler didn't know how, but luckily, she had gotten her old team back to the school in one piece.

"Ruby, you should make your report and then crash out for the day." Yang advised gently, working a kink out of her shoulder. It crackled and popped, but not even that offered relief. She pushed the ache aside. "I still have work to do down here."

"So, this is where we part ways then?" The young team leader surmised.

"For now, but you shouldn't worry about it." Yang allowed uneasily, her fingers ruffling Ruby's already messy tresses. "I've got to go help Glynda. I know that'll take me away from Beacon for just a little while, but it's no biggie. Blake will need to come with me too though."

"Why only Blake?" Ruby asked.

"It's what they talked about before." Weiss said, acting as the buffer that the sisters sometimes needed. "Until Blake learns to trust the professor and the headmaster, we can't get anything done. Besides, we have our own planning to do, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." Silver eyes lit up at the idea. "We have to do that one thing..."

"Speaking of that, hold your end of the bargain. Keep me posted, you especially Ruby." Yang pressed, arms crossed. "And if you really do plan on meeting up with Junior, you'd better take one of the boys with you."

"Neptune?" Ruby cocked her head to the side. "I thought you said he wasn't very helpful last time."

"Any of the guys except Jaune…or at least ask Nora or Pyrrha. They would do the trick too…" Yang said as she brushed her long blond hair back over her shoulder where it belonged. "Either way, I don't want either of you two near the slums alone."

"We won't be alone." Ruby said with a smile. "We'll have each other, right Weiss?"

The heiress got the distinct impression from Yang's glowering that no, it would not be enough. "Well, Ruby...it depends on the circumstances, I suppose.."

"You two need some actual muscle going with you." Yang explained as simply as she could. "See, the thing is, guys around there..." She trailed off meaningfully before shrugging. "Well, no telling what they might try without me around…"

"You two do look like easy targets…" Blake added.

"They'd be sorely mistaken!" Weiss bristled. "I would be sure to correct that little misunderstanding in a heartbeat."

"Just…take someone…" Yang sighed. "They're kind of stupid, you know? I just don't want to come back hearing about how some bar thug tried to be a pervert."

Ruby and Weiss shared a look, agreeing tiredly. Then the group parted ways.

Ruby and Weiss towards Ozpin's office. Meanwhile, Yang took some time to go over her scroll. Blake waited quietly, and for a long time, they enjoyed the silence. It was over too soon though, as Yang stopped typing. She hummed to herself for a mere moment, before lifting lilac eyes to Blake. "You're going to outfit for an expedition, and then meet me at the front of Beacon."

"Yang, I still don't get the point of all this..."

"Ozpin gave the okay for you to shadow Glynda. I still want you to do it, even if I am going to end up going with you guys." Yang reminded her. "Besides, this is kind of important."

"I'm afraid to ask….but knowing you…" Blake's ears tingled from under her bow. "What could be so important that Ozpin would sanction something like that?"

"That kid we picked up."

"Aero." Blake corrected.

"Yeah, him." Yang forwarded the mission details to Blake. "Read this. Glynda's going to be taking him someplace, and we're following suit. I've never been on a mission like this either, but, first time for everything."

"I still don't like it." Blake all but hissed.

"Not asking you to like it." Yang said, patting her friend on the shoulder as she passed by. "I'm asking you to trust me…is that so god-damn hard?"

Blake swallowed, hearing the hurt in Yang's voice. "I'll go pack my things." She relented quietly, already feeling her gut twist in disturbing ways.

Yang could only rub the back of her neck, watching Blake retreat. What was that Weiss said about having a little bit of tact? Yang couldn't remember now, but she wished that she could. Yang was, in many ways, a force of nature. A brute, as Weiss called her. Maybe she was being too hard on her friends, and maybe the weight of her friendship was starting to cross over into something else entirely.

Something inexplicable, but akin to war buddies.

That was probably it, Yang decided. If that was the case, then any little tiffs were really nothing to be concerned over. They'd get through them. Instead, her mind wandered to other places. She flipped open her scroll and called Glynda. It rang three times before she answered.

"Hello, Yang." Glynda's quiet voice greeted, stern as always. "I trust your mission went well?"

"Yeah, it went fine." Yang replied distractedly, her feet taking her to the mail room to pick up any packages. "I wasn't actually expecting all of the smaller Grimm to come out of the woodwork."

Glynda seemed to think on this, only one conclusion issuing from the laced amusement she offered. "Hmm, to be expected, honestly. Ozpin's aura is particularly powerful."

"Could warn me next time." Yang laughed, though there was a hint of seriousness in it too. "It was nothing we couldn't take on though."

"I had complete faith." Glynda agreed. "You've also issued your report?"

"I sent it in already." Yang said as she reached the room and went to her personal box. The small square container couldn't hold large packages. That's what the mail clerk sitting at the desk was for. She ignored the man entirely. "Now I'm just picking up the mail before I go back to the room. I will be coming out to the place later."

"Excellent."

"Is it really though?" Yang asked. "I'm surprised he only wanted my scroll's collected data, but since that's all he wanted, that's all I sent." She saw several envelopes inside the box addressed to her. Looking over her shoulder, she clutched them to her chest before heading off for her room.

"It's hardly worth the effort to tell him yourself. He will already hear from Ruby." Glynda explained. "Besides which, the only time a hunter truly makes a formalized report is when something goes wrong, or, unless Ozpin request it."

"No one told my uncle we were the ones coming out." Yang flitted though the letters. "He was kind of pissed it was us." Two bills, a letter from an old pen-pal, and a small envelope containing the tickets she'd ordered online. Seeing them made her breath catch, and though she tried to hide it, her next words were just a tad uneasy. "Anyway, I'm still bringing Blake with me."

"You're very intent on that, aren't you?"

"I don't really have a choice." Yang muttered. "I screwed up. I figured Blake would learn to trust you guys…but, I've gotta stand my ground." Her shoulders were sore from all of her fighting, she tried to stretch them, but it was no use. Fatigue was starting to set in. "I still think it can be done."

"I'm not in complete disagreement. However, I still believe this is foolhardy scheme." Glynda proposed at length, the exasperation in her voice clear as day. "In any case, Ozpin approved, so there isn't much I can say on the matter."

"Just do me a favor." Yang sighed as she closed her eyes. "Go with the flow, okay?"

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Glynda hung up her scroll in a mix of annoyance, confusion, and fondness. That last feeling was the only one keeping all of this madness tolerable.

"Go with the flow…" She murmured, shaking her head at the impossibility of it all.

Glynda mentally chastised herself. Now was not the time to be getting sentimental over a few offhanded remarks. Those were words that Yang would never truly understand the significance of. If Yang were lucky, no one would ever have to explain it to her, either.

She had a job to do, and that had to come first. All of this worrying could bother her later. At least, that's what she continued to tell herself.

Her cloaked figure traveled through the shoddy part of the city, where no one would bat an eye at her unusual style of attire. Even the fedora that covered her blonde hair was completely out of place. Still, this mission demanded a particular level of stealth. Though, if she were to critique her own clothing, she'd call it a sin against her nature. Glynda was no vagabond, and she bit back her distain every time a passerby cowered in fear.

So what if the attire got the menacing point across? It lacked all of the level-headed authority that Glynda prided herself on. Then again, hiding in plain sight simply wouldn't do her any good, either.

The famed huntress reached the target apartment building and entered, producing a card key that had seen better days. Just like the rest of this building. She slid the card through the reader. The door beeped, and she let herself in. Even though she hated procrastination, she climbed the three flights of stairs slowly.

Places like this reminded her of darker times. Of the dirty little lies that she bore witness to during her life.

Still, she had her pride as a huntress, even if sometimes she had little else. She came to the door she needed, unlocking it with a different card key. Slipping inside, she divested herself of the black cloak and fedora, placing both of them on the rack provided. "Honestly, what dangerously outdated security measures." She sighed as she fixed her blonde hair. "If it were up to me, I'd see places like these condemned."

"Oh please, don't be so melodramatic." A voice Glynda knew well began, dry humor lacing her tone. "It's because places like this exist that we can share words. I'd hate to cause a political ruckus just because of my position."

Glynda sighed. "Unfortunate, but rather true, isn't it?"

"Indeed." Came the agreement. "Drink with me?"

"Is there ever else a time we share words?" Glynda returned. The apartment was entirely empty, aside from a table and a few chairs. The woman laughed as Glynda stepped forward, taking a seat, and regarding the wine glass that sat waiting for her. A voluptuous red drink. Glynda lifted it to her lips. "Robust flavor…"

"Some of the finest I could acquire." Fabric rustled, then icy blue eyes came into view. The elder of the Schnee siblings. "I trust it suits you…"

Glynda nodded. "Certainly."

"So, you called…I came." Winter needed not elaborate further. Time was somewhat of the essence. "Ironwood is none the wiser…"

It was then, between sips of wine, that the polite rhetoric crumbled. Here and now, there was no use for tired stipulations and questions of status. This was no time to be measuring authority, no matter how often the two of them did that around Ironwood and Ozpin. Then again, as Winter had said, these were not political matters.

"Crawled out from under Ironwood's thumb, have you?" These were personal matters. Glynda acted accordingly. "That'll be a blessing on my end, so thank you. In any case, I assume you've acquainted yourself with the situation."

"I have." Winter frowned deeply. "I've agreed to harbor White Fang fugitives willing to testify against the crimes they've committed. Both to my family, and my father's company alike. That agreeance between myself and Ozpin still stands." She took another sip of her wine, as if to taste her next few words. "However, under no circumstance will I harbor a child."

"No, I assumed not."

"Don't misconstrued my words." Winter replied in earnest. "Fugitive or not, the safe houses I've procured are no orphanages. The conditions hardly suit a youngster, White Fang or otherwise."

Glynda also took the time to measure her words, but for a far different reason. "I didn't expect you would be able to keep a child hidden. Besides, it's a little crude to offer a child a plea deal, isn't it?"

"Then what exactly do you want?" Sharp, quick, and to the point.

Glynda answered in kind. "The one woman who would meddle in such affairs." She paused, letting the request sink in. "Get me into contact with her."

Winter leaned forward, a scowl on her otherwise beautiful face. "Raven…" She spat the name like a curse. She took a breath, holding back no small amount of ire. "As if I'd even amuse the notion. You don't think I'm a complete idiot, do you?"

Glynda stood her ground. "Let's not resort to petty squabbling." She neither answered the rhetorical question, nor reacted the slightest bit offended. She merely offered the truth as she saw it. "If the boy stays in my custody, I'll have no choice but to turn him over to the authorities."

Winter wasn't moved by such a confession. "I hardly see the issue with that."

"You should, considering the dust shop in which he stole from. It holds ties to the Schnee Dust Company." Glynda explained with an edge that carried deeper meaning. "The amount of dust in which he stole amounts to grand larceny. If that were not enough, according to what records we could gather from him, he is an illegal immigrant." Glynda lifted her wine glass once more. "I'll give you one guess as to where he hails from…"

It was a complicated situation. More complicated than Winter had first counted on, but now she was beginning to understand. "Ah, indeed. The authorities would send him back to Atlas without hesitation."

"As is the protocol for deportation." Glynda murmured.

Winter signed then, tenting her fingers upon the table. "No doubt my father would have something to say about that." She took a moment to reflect.

Faunus slave camps were common in Atlas. Her father placed more stock in those ventures than Winter wanted to admit. Able bodied young boys would net a tidy profit. If, and only if, they didn't end up in some sort of Faunus trafficking. Atlas was the worst place for a Faunus to live, both because of the lacking in Faunus privilege, and because slavery -of both humans and Faunus- was still an acceptable practice.

Only the wealthiest of Atlas families could afford slaves. Of those, many simply preferred not to keep them, finding the practice repulsive. That was the only saving grace. Unfortunately, the famed patriarch of the Schnee family held no such reservations, and not only kept slaves, he worked them to near death in the dust mines.

It was little spoken of, but widely known.

Winter closed her eyes. "You're asking of me complex things...I hope you realize this."

"Even if your father didn't hurt the boy, the government would." Glynda murmured. "White Fang are White Fang. Man, woman, child…it matters not. All of them are tried and convicted in the same manner." She sighed at length. "I'd rather not send a mere child to face death."

Winter took a steadying sigh. She didn't agree with it either, but, laws were laws. Plain and simple. "So, because you refuse to accept laws that down line up with your own, you intend to give him back to the criminal underground. Is that it?"

"Raven's no mere criminal." Glynda tried to say, knowing it sounded trite coming from her own mouth. "A vigilante perhaps…"

"She's a crook."

"I'd say, misguided…"

"Glynda, don't do this to me, please." She said, haughtily holding up her hand. Winter tried, desperately so, to mask the pain she was feeling inwardly. "No matter how you color it, Raven Branwen is a deserter. A backstabber!" Those icy blue eyes hid in the darkness once more. "She doesn't seem to know her place, and you know that."

"Her sense of justice may be no better than the White Fang, but she does still have one." Glynda needed that strength now. Needed that power. "You and I aren't able to act outside of the law, but she _can_. She _does."_

"Yes!" Winter agreed, but it was filled with venom. "But at what cost?!"

"I don't know. I doubt we will ever know. However, there is something indisputable."

"Oh...?"

Glynda nodded. "Her loyalty to Ozpin and the rest of us. It's peculiar, but does mean something to her."

"Loyalty my ass." Winter hissed. "If she gave a damn about any of us, she'd still…" Winter cut herself off. There was no point in saying what had crossed all of their minds.

"She hasn't retaliated against our leadership. She supports them." Then, a little more quietly, Glynda cleared her throat. "She supports us. All of us, in her own way. I'm sure of that."

"I believe you have a point...but that's no excuse." Winter poured them both some more wine. It was amazing how emotionally shattered the Branwen siblings could make her. Qrow drove her to hate drunkenness. Raven made her want to be even drunker than Qrow. She downed her glass quickly. It made her voice no stronger, her emotions unchecked. "I also believe you're playing at something far above our paygrades."

Glynda wisely ignored Winter's emotional struggle. She kept to the matter at hand. "Name your price…" Glynda said, eyebrow raised.

It took some time. Truly, there was only one thing that Winter needed. Asking for it, though, would be a shot to her ego. "There is only one thing I want." Winter knew the truth. Her sister's sense of self would be horribly mangled if the girl knew just what sort of paperwork her father kept around the offices. "I don't believe you're capable of offering me that sort of compensation…"

"Try me."

"Alright then." Winter replied, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms. "What I would like, is the complete liquidation of my father's company. I want all of the company's assets to be carefully dealt with in a discrete and concise matter. Furthermore, I want all traces of less than savory business practices expunged. If you can give me that, I'll give you any connection you might need."

It was impossible. Even if Glynda wanted to do that, which she was considerably doubtful of, she couldn't risk it. "You know I cannot agree to that."

"Then make an offer." Winter proposed. "I'm feeling generous."

Glynda bit her lip. "A rival company…"

Winter leaned forward. "I'm listening…"

"You wish to drive your father out of the corporate game. You can't do that while pinned down at Ironwood's command. Even with the immense strength the position offers you. Though, if you bide your time, Weiss will undertake the company for herself. In doing so, she'll begin to steer the company's policies back into reform." Glynda explained slowly. "However, that entire plan of yours revolves implicitly around Weiss wanting to undertake the company. There may come a time she's denied the offer, or, when she simply chooses to deny it herself."

"Outcomes I've both considered, and planned for…"

Glynda held up her hand. "I'm not finished." After taking a breath, and considering her position, she decided to lay down a rather risky card. "There are powerful backers in Beacon this year. Weiss Schnee is not the only socialite to have been granted admittance. In her year alone stands the esteemed Pyrrha Nikos. A year above that, Coco Adel and Faunus right's activist Velvet Scarlatina are of notable import. Should Weiss decide to take matters into her own hands, your father might just find himself on rather shaky ground."

It was warfare of a dastardly sort. Having rather wealthy Faunus right's family supporting the dust trade would spark controversy. Winter knew it would force her father's hand. He would have to release his slaves. Possibly force the government to raise the wages for employed Faunus, or risk losing a great many workers. Under the surface, it would also call into question some of Atlas's more underhanded laws.

Glynda's plan was divine, but, dangerous.

"Lesser companies have tried this, only to fail...lack of land, lack of funds...this is no small venture." Winter cleared her throat, pushing emotion aside. "Your personal coffers are impressive, as I recall…"

"As are Ozpin's." Glynda reminded her. "The possible stock holders don't stop there…"

Winter frowned, thinking hard. "Weiss has a firm grasp of the family name…"

"So, allow her to keep the Schnee Dust Company in the aftermath." Glynda shrugged. "There's no reason why we should fully liquidate a multi-billion lien company out of spite. In the aftermath, our company could simply be absorbed. If that isn't suitable, there's no reason why both companies couldn't work side-by-side. Dust is a rather complicated trade, after all."

"Something to decide at a later time..." Winter nodded slowly. "Alright then, if you really think you can pull this off, you have yourself a deal."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

If you wanted to hide a felon, you contracted a felon. Glynda and Ozpin had long come to that conclusion.

It was the plight of all huntsmen to do the right thing. Even if that thing happened to be tinged in the gritty underworld. Crime was merely a means to an end. A rebellion sought by depraved minds, and angry souls. Glynda had to admit, crime was in _some way_ justified in the greater world. There was a place for it, just as there was equally a place for law and order.

While Glynda would always stand on one side of the coin, she could not disregard the other side either. She only wished Qrow could do the same.

"I'm not going to agree to this." The livid male muttered.

"It isn't as if we have a choice." Glynda told him smoothly. She had let him in on everything, including the fact that she planed on meeting Raven. "Yang will find out, sooner or later. If that's the case, I'd much rather it be sooner."

"That's only because you don't know Raven like I do." He said, lamenting the fact that he wasn't nearly drunk enough for this kind of conversation. "She's not the sort of person that needs to be influencing Yang right now."

"Qrow, that's not your decision."

"Don't act all high and mighty with me." The man chastised, half in the bag, and smelling of cheap tobacco. "Look, I know you and my sister have an understanding…we all make one with her eventually…but Yang's not ready for that kind of a commitment. She doesn't understand what this kind of thing entails."

"Who says she needs to make an agreement at all?" Glynda asked carefully. "It was not my intention to graduate Yang and immediately put her into your field of work."

"Then what in the hell was your intention?" He barked, hands slamming onto the table, as he stood. "To fuck up her life, her future, before it even got started?"

"To ensure her safety!" Glynda roared, standing to her full height. Then, her voice became eerily quiet, but no less stern. "Truth be told, I have no intention of ever allowing her to be a solitary huntress. She has no reason to be skirting the fine line that we use to maintain peace and prosperity."

"Horse shit." Qrow sat down anyway, more mindful than to start a bar fight. "You put her in those woods. The borderer skirmishes are still going on, by the way, thanks for checking in..."

His sarcasm was duly noted, but she pointedly ignored the bite in his tone. "For your information, Ozpin put her in those woods." Glynda corrected. "And you know why."

"He kept it easy." Qrow sighed. "I know."

"He kept her on a leash." Glynda corrected. "She would have flown off the handle had she been sent to the other side of the forest. He kept her out of the conflicts."

"Apple doesn't fall far from the tree on that one." He stated gruffly. "Like mother, like daughter…"

"Like uncle…" Glynda smirked, but it fell quickly after. "There aren't many people she'll listen to, but you are one of them. Ozpin used that to keep her safe." Glynda hadn't liked it either, but the mission was over and done with. Yang had performed her duty well, and had gotten her group of students back to Beacon safely. "She may be a huntress, but she is still very green. She'll stop any nothing to find the answers she seeks. Those are dangerous odds, Qrow."

"So you make it worse?" The man asked. "I've spent Yang's whole life keeping her away from Raven, and now you've got it set up so they have no choice but to come face to face." He didn't know how to deal with that. "You're setting her up to fail."

"I'm giving her what she asked."

"She's too young!"

"Do you truly think her so incapable?"

"I think you're fucking with a good thing, and I don't like that."

"She has questions, ones you can't answer…or you _won't_ …" Glynda was never sure which one it was. "Yang isn't too young…if anything, this has gone on long enough. It's been festering…all of the things you won't say…everything you _can't_."

"You know the truth, just like I do…" Qrow growled. "Raven walked out on her." God, he needed more booze for this. His glass was empty and he let it roll of the table. He watched it shatter. "She left her baby girl behind...didn't even look back."

"Yes, she did…but _why_?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Because like it or not, that's what Yang wants to know." Glynda sighed, realizing it was inevitable. "So long as Raven's still breathing, Yang wants to find her. Problem is, I'm starting to become less and less inclined about keeping Raven away. Yang needs those answers, and I think it's about time we let her have them."

"Shit…." He cursed. "You're one persistent bitch…"

"Just as you are one particularly vulgar thorn in my backside." Glynda shot back. "Listen to me. Losing Summer made it impossible to keep up the facade that you and Tai both clung onto. It was only a matter of time." Glynda continued, softly. "Ozpin said it himself, we can't protect Yang forever…but we can damn well make sure we're there to pick up the pieces when she finally falls apart." Then a little more softly, a little more conviction added, she made her promise. "I know I will be."

"And what if she decides to follow in Raven's footsteps…"

Glynda felt her stomach turn…it was possible. Anything was. "Well, I suppose that's a risk we must be willing to take."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Yang and Blake met up in the front of Beacon, geared for a journey that started at the docks. There was a small inn for traveling merchants, and covertly, Glynda made sure two rooms were provided side by side. She offered very little explanation for why they were just sitting around. In fact, she hadn't spoken much, either.

Yang had been so grateful to relax, that she rightly didn't care. At least, not at first. Hours later, Yang's long morning had turned to an even longer afternoon. "Soooo, uh, this is a thing…"

Yang received no answer for her unvoiced but very clear question. It was something, alright. Blake and Glynda hand somehow managed a truce. Though, how that had been stricken, Yang wasn't sure. It was a relief that they weren't fighting, but this also made for undue silence. Silence brought boredom.

"I mean seriously…what exactly are we doing here?" Yang tried again, this time, a little more seriously.

Glynda was posted near the window, watching expectantly. "Waiting."

"That's what you said four hours ago." She pushed her now messy blonde hair out of her eyes and sighed. "What are we waiting for?"

"We are simply waiting." Glynda murmured. "Covert operations such as this one, they take a bit of time."

"Someone's probably making a drop." Blake murmured, her nose behind a book. She turned the page. "Anything else, she wasn't told. That's how drops work. It's a waiting game."

"Astute observation, and yes. You're correct." Glynda said as she stepped away from the window to sit on the rickety old chair in the corner. "We're waiting for a parcel. The problem is, the information inside isn't only sensitive. It's particularly dangerous to acquire. One might say impossible, without the right sort of contact."

Blake looked up from her reading. Golden eyes glittering in careful consideration. "Something like that could take days…"

"We don't have days." Glynda told Blake. "What we have is a handful of calculated risks. This is not your average delivery mission, and we aren't merely toting goods."

"Might as well be goods." Blake said while closing her book. Smuggling her kin around was something of an old pastime. "Believe it or not, hiding in plain sight is some of the easiest ways to move around."

"That assumes you aren't plastered on every scroll across Remnant when Grimm invade the cities." Glynda sighed with a shake of her head. "Loathe though I am to say it, Beacon's reputation sits on the line, as do our own. That is a factor to keep in mind as well."

"What _are_ we going to do with Aero?" Yang finally sighed.

"Well, we have two options. Both of them equally unpleasant, and one of them potentially dangerous." She pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. "Blake, you said that Aero had been brought back from a mining town. Do you remember which one?"

Blake shook her head.

"He's Atlas born, according to his blood tests and birth records." Glynda suppled slowly. "Our objective, frankly, is Faunus trafficking." She said as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Aero Auriferous cannot stay under Beacon's protection. However, to send him back to Atlas goes against my personal convictions as a huntress…"

"What choice do you have?" Blake asked, palms already to her face, her mind already amok with the implications. "We can't break international treaties all across Remnant."

"The hell we can't." Yang cracked her knuckles. "So what are we gonna do?"

"We take the calculated risk." Glynda knew it was now, or never. "Contrary to popular belief, Winter Schnee isn't an enemy to the Faunus rights cause. However, her position in the military limits her vocal authority on the matter. She joined to make her way into politics, but that's a long road ahead. Still, it is the path she chose, and one she believes firmly in."

Blake found the floor suddenly very interesting. "How does that help Aero?"

"Inherently, it doesn't." Glynda murmured. "By proxy, however…let's just say, she's willing to make a trade that'll save his life."

Golden eyes burned with repressed rage. Confused, bitter, and tired, she looked up. "Sign a deal with the devil, and hope the devil doesn't bite back…is that how this is?" Blake asked, her voice rough. Goodwitch the instructor had been replaced with Goodwitch the huntress. Seeing that level of resolve was frightening, but there it was. Blake couldn't ignore it, even if she wanted to.

"Oh, she'll bite back, but thankfully we won't be the targets." Glynda absently removed her glasses, cleaning them thoroughly.

"Okay, so, what's she planning on doing?" Yang wanted to know, feeling off kilter about the whole ordeal.

"Winter is planning to usurp the dust trade from her father's grasp. In order to do this, a new company will be built from the ground up. However, she doesn't want the Schnee Dust Company's name to be completely sullied. Merely liquidated and reformed. I believe she still intends for Weiss to take it over and rebuild. However, if a second company were to be made, it would need someone able to stir up a conflict of interest."

"Wait a sec…" Yang was good at fast talk and shady deals, but this went over her head. "Back up…why would Weiss's sister do that?"

"That is not our concern." Glynda said. "Those are family squabbles, little more. What we're interested in, most notably you, Yang, is the information being acquired."

"Uh…" Yang took a breath. "Why does it sound to me like there's gonna be a total shit storm?"

"Because that's exactly how it's going to be." Glynda told her. She stood and retook her vigil in front of the window once more. "When isn't it, after all?"


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Here's chunk number 2 from before… I don't yet know when the next Blitz-off will be, but I wanted to get this up sooner rather than later.

 **Day 7, chunk 2.**

 **Same Ole Story**

The parcel was running late, but a midnight call from Winter promised it would be there by daybreak. Glynda gave one key to Blake, and kept the other for herself and Yang. They retired for the night. A few hours of rest would do them all a world of good.

Even so, Glynda was up around four in the morning.

Her mind was full of all of the agreements she'd made, all of the chances she was taking. It wouldn't be the first time she'd put herself into such a position, and it wouldn't be the last. Her shewed instinct came from experience, and that had been gained by years of success and failure. She knew what stupidity looked like, and on the surface, it was. Her choices could be called stupid, overconfident. It might be said that she was taking idiotic chances. All for the sake of blind-resolve, and wholehearted conviction.

A wiser person, however, would see the masterful work at play. The work meticulously set down piece by carefully placed piece.

"Whatcha' doing?" The question was as thick with sleep as it was curiosity.

"Keeping watch." Glynda said, thinking it rather obvious.

Yang rolled over, cuddling into the pillow before bolting upright, remembering exactly where she was. "Where's the dude with the thing?"

"The person we're supposed to meet hasn't arrived yet." Glynda told her, feeling the much too strong grasp encircle her into a bear hug, the likes of which Glynda had never experienced before. She knew Yang was strong, and that she enjoyed being somewhat hands on…but this didn't provide an explanation for the random assault to Glynda's senses. Her world was a sea of unruly gold, the waft of high-end conditioner, and the effortlessly soft breaths of Beacon's twin fisted terror.

"Missed ya…"

"You've hardly had sufficient time to miss me." Glynda said as her feet graced the floor once more. An action she was very thankful for as it meant Yang's strong grip lessened, even if she didn't let go entirely. "You've spent far too much time with Blake."

"Don't know what you mean by that, but okay." Yang shrugged, far more intent on burying her nose along that gentle smell of perfume she loved. She had half a mind to ask Glynda if it was one of those pheromone based ones, but thought better of it. Truth be told, it just felt good to hold Glynda in her arms. To kiss her along the base of her neck, and along her jaw.

"What I meant was, you seem to be brooding."

"Na, I'm not really." Yang murmured, but the feigned ignorance died as soon as those knowing green eyes burned into her. "Okay, okay, look, it's really no biggie. It's not like I have a lot of things on my mind. I just wanted to have you in my arms, that's all."

Choosing to go along with that purposeful misdirection for the moment, Glynda relented. "I am, aren't I?"

"Yeah..." Yang _was_ a brooder in the darkness of night, and in the early morning. Her comfort seeking was a dead giveaway. Besides that, Yang never had been a very good liar. She was so thankful though, that she'd been given the way out. "Yeah...you are. Wouldn't have it any other way."

"Hmm, is that so? You don't know how possessive an act this is, do you?" Glynda asked, even as she gave Yang more access, eyes slipping closed as she comforted herself in the sensation.

"Maybe." Yang murmured, punctuating the statement with a gentle nip. "Maybe not." Then another small kiss.

"You are completely insufferable."

"Which is why you're suffering." Yang laughed softly.

"Mmm." Glynda wordlessly agreed with just the lightest note of playful sarcasm. "Very much so."

"So, why are you awake so early anyway?" Yang asked again.

"I told you why, Yang."

"Well, uh…you told me you were keeping watch." Yang felt that it was lackluster. "But you were scowling out the window. Almost like my uncle was on the other side or something."

"What scowl?"

"That one." Yang said, tapping Glynda's nose with her finger. "You so much as think about my family, and you get pissy looking."

"I was merely considering our next move." Glynda replied. "I must be sure everything happens to be in place."

"It is in place." Yang said, fairly sure of that fact. "You're worse than Weiss." And with that conclusion drawn, she settled for that fact that her affectionate overtures wouldn't be reciprocated at that exact moment in time. She meandered back over to the small bed, laid down, and glanced to the cracking paint on the ceiling. "So, I've been wondering something…"

"And that would be?" Glynda didn't miss the little hint of worry that edged Yang's voice.

"Well…" Yang turned onto her side, a single finger running circles on the bedspread. "You've been with someone before, right? I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want, but, I just can't help but wonder about that kind of thing."

Glynda gave Yang a searching look. "Well, I'm no saint." Glynda finally told her, leaving the realities of her past reasonably vague. "I'd prefer not to delve into that particular aspect of my past, but, I can assure you that it's no one that you'd ever come know."

"Oh…" Yang murmured, purely curious. "Well, why not?"

"As a rule, most hunters and huntresses tend to live fairly short lives. I may be middle-aged by a civilian's standpoint, but as a huntress…" Glynda shrugged, forcing away all of the old memories. All of the friend's she had lost over the years. All of the things she would never be able to say. She'd loved, and she'd lost. Watching friends slaughtered and oppressed. "I'm old, Yang. Well beyond my prime and expectancy. Most in our line of work don't even see their thirtieth birthday, but here I am. Defying the odds, letting the years pass me by."

Yang let the matter drop, unsure about what she should say to any of that. Thankfully for her, she didn't have to say anything, because someone approached the door.

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

CCTV monitors were located all across the waterfront. If Ozpin had been sitting at his desk, he would have been gifted a rather interesting sight. As it was, however, he merely sighed, dabbing some more antiseptic onto the open wound he now sported on his hand. He knew the Faunus boy was rather edgy, but, he had never truly considered that the child would bite at him.

Most certainly not with aura enhanced teeth and claws native to his heritage.

Then again, perhaps he should have known, considering the boy's rather questionable past. Either way, though it had hurt a bit at the time, it was little more than a minor annoyance at best, inconsequential at worst. Ozpin's own aura had seen to the bite quickly, and it would be gone before the day was out.

As jovially as ever, he addressed the child that was now restrained. "Now then, so long as you promise not to bite me again, I'll remove that gag of yours."

A muffled growl was his only response.

"As you can see, this has been my dilemma." He said to the boy, showing him the injury. It was an angry purple, but no longer dribbling blood. "You're entirely too rowdy. It makes the experience unpleasant for both of us."

Another growl later, and teeth clinking angrily into metal made Ozpin shake his head.

"I really didn't like having to do that either, you know. If you were better behaved, this wouldn't be an issue." He sipped on his coffee. "Though, I can hardly have you going around biting people. Human skin is fragile, even with an aura. You have particularly sharp teeth, though you clearly already knew that." He righted his suit then, frowning at the claw marks of his jacket. There was no fixing that, he was no tailor. "In any event, you must stay here for the time being. I have a school to run, and facilities to oversee. You will simply have to wait here until I return…but fear not, because I shall."

He left the boy under the careful eye of Oobleck, the most paternal of all beacon staff outside of Ozpin himself. Then, he began his morning routine.

…And what a routine he knew it would be…

It was time for Beacon's students to start class. Many sleepy students had shambled from their warm beds and into the mess hall in search of food. Those who didn't made a beeline for the classrooms. Team JNPR were in hot pursuit of their shortest member. The girl had stolen all of the syrup bottles off of the breakfast tables, and several complaints had already been issued. Weiss watched the antics with a reserved sense of awe. She just barely got the door open when Nora had come speeding out of it, running headlong into the nearest wall.

"No one should be so energetic so early." Weiss commented. True, she rather enjoyed mornings, but she liked them for their tranquility. Not because of the typical breakfast feud. "What idiots…"

"Uh, Weiss, was that Nora?" Ruby asked, barely getting yanked away from the door in time. More students rushed after team JNPR, and all of them also collided with the painted brick mural.

"Yes…" Weiss could only pinch the bridge of her nose. "Yes, it was."

"I'm going to go help her…"

"Ruby!" Weiss ran after her partner, offering a hushed apology to the two faculty members who had witnessed the entire escapade.

"Quite the rucks, isn't it?" Ozpin asked, having heard the dull roar of angry students from down the hall. It wasn't a surprise to see who was causing the stir as he easily sidestepped team JNPR once more.

"Surely you should do something." Port murmured, though he also refused to do little more than observe the goings on.

"Hmm…no, I think not." Ozpin was highly unconvinced of that. "Best we don't interfere. Resolving conflict on one's own builds character." He merely went on his way, ignoring the whirlwind of students that went stampeding out into the gardens. Instead, he continued to survey the building, as he did every morning.

"So, about Glynda's classes…" Port began, as he caught up to his old friend.

"It's a bit unorthodox, but, I'll apply a third year team to oversee her classes." Ozpin said thoughtfully. "It might do the young blood a little bit of good to face some less experienced tutelage. Not to mention, give the third years a taste of what a little attitude can accomplish."

"Yes, well…the first year students do have confidence, I'll give them that."

"At the very least." Ozpin sighed, as Nora sped past him again. "Full of energy, that one." This time Ruby was hot on her heels, a much more exhausted Weiss and Ren trailing after. Rose petals scattered everywhere, and he plucked one that landed in his coffee cup. "Spirited youngsters, aren't they?" Pyrrha brought up the rear, dragging a trampled and pained looking Jaune with her. "That poor fellow…we'll make a hunter out of him yet…mark my words."

Port merely made a gruff little cough of agreement. Ozpin was a strange man, with even stranger ideas. He had no inclination to question Ozpin's choices. "About Glynda's classes, should you change your mind, I would voluntarily take the time to oversee their training."

"No need." Ozpin replied as another day at the academy unfolded. "I'll keep the offer in mind, though. Just in case."

"Indeed." The heavy set man nodded. "Well then, I'm off."

Ozpin offered a small wave and a hushed farewell as he finished his morning walk about the campus. He viewed the gardens, the various lecture halls, and lastly the battle arenas. He then stopped by the medical wards, and the plethora of gyms. A short, but perfunctory meeting with the staff members, and his morning was complete. It was just past ten-o-clock. He'd made good time, and satisfied with this, he went back to his office, a plate of pancakes and ham in hand, hoping to appeal to the persnickety up-start in his office.

It came as no surprise the he was still tied up, still stuck to the chair, and still unhappy. Ozpin aimed to change that as best as he could. He dismissed Oobleck so that he, too, could prepare for his classes. Then, with careful and measured ease he set the food down at his office desk. "If you're hungry, I'll permit you to eat. However, afterward, we have someplace to be, so you will be restrained in some fashion when we need to leave the premises."

"Rrrr."

"I simply cannot trust you not to run off." Ozpin sighed softly. "You must understand, what I do, I do for your own good. Now, if you'll keep your teeth to yourself, this awful thing won't have to be used again. Am I understood?"

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

In all fairness, Aero was not the only one feeling more than a little restless.

Yang clicked her tongue. "Sooo, let me see if I get this right. We waited all night for that little letter to slide under the door…and now we're waiting some more for Ozpin to bring Aero?" Yang asked with an upraised eyebrow. She was getting sick of this confined room, and unlike Blake, she didn't like reading, or sitting around. "Kind of stupid, isn't it. Why didn't I just bring him with me when I came?"

"Actually, it would have been pretty stupid to drag the one we're trying to smuggle out of the city." Blake replied, eyes still on her reading. "Especially around places like this where he could be spotted easily. You only move your stowaways at crucial moments."

"Yeah, but talk about doing things the slow way." Yang sighed.

Glynda was sitting at the small end table. She took her time looking over the handwritten note she'd received before ripping it up into little bits, putting it into the ash tray, and then burning it. "The White Fang have eyes all over this city. You do not have the semblances or the balance of power overrule that. Ozpin is in a position of command, and no one would be inexperienced enough to question what he does, or when he does it."

"But what about-"

A knock came from the door, and Glynda flung it open, dragging Ozpin and the hooded boy inside. Aero was kept confined with a ring of her semblance around his wrist. A tether, should he think it wise to go wandering off. He fought against this, pitiful little sounds issuing from his throat. They only became more strangled when Blake came into view. Teary-eyed and upset, it let out a desperate little rumble.

It was all for naught though, because even Blake knew better than to fall for the complaining.

"You're lucky you aren't leashed around the neck." Blake sighed, even as her hand came up to rest upon his head. "You were trained for this…if you can't break out of a measly little semblance chord, that's on you."

"Whoa, being a teensy bit harsh there, aren't ya?" Yang asked, mildly surprised. She expected to see Blake take offense the boy's plight. "Ozpin's semblance is nothing to fool with."

"We are what we are, and that's all we can ever truly be." Blake sighed, giving Ozpin a look. No, she didn't like this, but she understood. Then she obliged Yang with an explanation. "Aero was trained to deal with these kinds of circumstances. We all were, right now he's just looking to be coddled." She flicked his ear roughly, causing him to cry out, a weak gust of wind issuing from his body.

He snarled petulantly, and she flicked his ear again.

"You're a big boy. Use your words." Blake's golden eyes landed on him in reprimand. "The way I see it, you have two choices. If you don't like the chain, break out. If not, stop fussing."

"What do you mean...break out?" Yang felt like she was missing something. That she was clueless about something that she should have figured out by now. Before Blake could explain though, Aero lost his temper.

"He said he'd put a collar on me if I used my teeth!"

"Well, you did bite me." Ozpin clarified. "Naturally, something like that cannot go on unattended."

"You did _what_?" Blake asked, shocked, but her gaze was leveled at the child, not the teacher.

"I bit the guy who grabbed me." Aero shrugged simply, perhaps looking for praise. It didn't bother him either way.

Blake just massaged her eyes. She didn't want to be here, in the shoddiest place one could come to expect from this particular Faunus infested area of the city. It was probably crawling with White Fang supporters, or failing that, people she genuinely didn't want to meddle with anyway. Now, she was being told that her headmaster had been used as a chew toy. What else could possibly go wrong, she wasn't sure but…if she knew anything…and she did…

…this sort of thing could not go unpunished…

Her nails extended into claws, and with it, she cut the semblance that was tethering Aero to Ozpin's side. She flipped the boy over, sending him spiraling into the nearest wall. Then, with a hard growl one that was in no way human, she stood over him. Sadness welling deeply in her eyes. "You cannot maul humans, Aero!" Blake snarled, emotion catching the back of her throat. She locked it down, steeled it. Now was not the time to take pity. "You were not born with the ability to grow claws and fangs to hurt other people."

"Holy merciful shit…" Yang had never seen it before. Had never known it possible that Blake's eye-teeth could become fangs themselves, or that she could grow claws at will.

"This is normal." Glynda said, palm on Yang's shoulder to keep her from interfering. "Stay back."

"You are _not_ an animal. You're a Faunus." Blake hissed, nose to nose with the boy. This wasn't how a human behaved, she knew it. For all that she tried to blend in, her small comrade broke her. Broke her, before he could break others. "There's no excuse for biting Ozpin. NONE!"

The sound made him flinch. Wisely, he didn't talk back.

Blake didn't move. Her eyes were zeroed in on her young kin in front of her, who looked about ready to piss himself. It was a purely psychological point, but one that could never be made by a human. Her scent had changed to raw, unrestrained Fury. Everything about this situation said 'Listen up. Pay attention.' Each breath out of her was unsteady. She finally pushed herself up off the floor, draining her aura away from her teeth so that they would go back to normal. Her claws dissipated soon after.

"Corner, Aero." She almost hissed. "Now!" It was only then that her golden eyes returned to seeing the world around her, and the spectacle she'd made her herself. She needs space, and she needed it now. "Excuse me." She murmured, making a beeline for the bathroom, locking herself inside.

"Uh…" Yang never claimed to be the most eloquent speaker on the face of the planet, but, she liked to think she wasn't a total airhead. "Did she just…" Then again, seeing one of your best friends look that deadly raised a question of how well she knew that friend in the first place. Yang really, truly, didn't want to know that answer. "What the actual hell just happened?"

"First time you've seen a Faunus do that, I take it?" Ozpin queried dryly, not at all surprised.

Yang nodded dumbly. "Didn't think she could."

"All Faunus have traits native to their respective species." Glynda replied simply. "It's not unusual." She glanced at Aero, who'd taken to the corner of the room as he had been ordered. He looked as if he had been properly chastised, but, no seemingly worse for wear. In fact, he merely sat cross-legged, looking at the bathroom door, waiting for his 'time out' of sorts to be over with.

"Blake doesn't just grow fangs for shits and giggles." Yang rebuked, not sure if she should be somewhat proud of the kid, or terrified. "That little brat really lit a fire under her ass." Yang raised an eyebrow at the locked door. "Blake...she she's probably never done that in front of...oh god-damn." Then she ripped the bathroom door off of its hinges, leaning in. "You okay in here, kitty?"

Blake's face and hair was all wet, and she buried it in a towel. "Get the hell out of this bathroom." Blake yelled, flinging the nearest bar of soap. "And fix the door!" A little more quietly, she huffed. "For all you know, I could have been indecent."

Glynda and Ozpin viewed the small warzone dryly. At least now they knew who was responsible for the mass destruction of doors inside the same corridor that team JNPR resided in. "Huh, well would you look at that." Ozpin commented mildly. "Seems it wasn't Nora after all. Oobleck owes me a new coffee pot."

Glynda shot him a murderous look. Now was not the time for such a comment. Even if it was, surely he wasn't making bets about who the most destructive students were, was he? The small little smirk told her everything she needed to now. "You..." She glared, smacking up on the back of his head. "You should be ashamed of yourself…"

"Now, now, no need for all of that ire. I merely try to remember the antics I got up to at their age. Full of fire and determination." Ozpin cleared his throat then, reminding himself of the perils that rested upon the road ahead. "In times of strife, they will look to you, Glynda. Consider, perhaps now is the time to remedy your own perceived failures and shortcomings as well. Not all of us are so lucky to be given a second chance."

"Oz..." She swallowed down his name. "Understood, sir."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

They needed to get Aero out of Vale, and the best way to do that was to take him to a small port town that boarded Vale entirely. They got on a small passenger boat, the voyage itself slated to take three days, and in that time they would be in cramped quarters. It was four to a stateroom, and there was hardly any room to walk. There was a bathroom, if it could even be called that. Merely a toilet and a sink. No shower to be found.

It was what they got for staying on the lowest class of the ship, aiming to be as inconspicuous as possible. This meant there was very little privacy, and hardly anything to do. Blake, however, refused to be confined in such a small space. It was doing terrible things to her senses. Unfortunately for Blake so was the fresh air that wafted, dragging Yang's scent along with it. That most certainly wasn't helping.

"Do you have to follow me?"

"Yep." Yang said as she leaned on the railing, watching the waves crashing into the dust enhanced steel below. "Gotta talk to me sometime."

"I'd rather not."

"But you are going to." Yang told her, much more assured than she should have been.

"If I wasn't so worried about what they would do to Aero…"

"You'd have left already." Yang murmured. "I know."

"Then why are you here, Yang?" Blake asked her. "For that matter, why am I? I'm a runner, that's what I do best."

"You've changed, Blake, at least a little. You're not the person you were before." Yang shrugged, having watched it happen slowly over time. "About Aero though, I wouldn't let anyone hurt him."

"I never said you would."

"No, you implied it."

"Damn it, Yang. You don't understand."

"I don't? Me...your partner...I don't understand?" Yang told her, feeling hurt and masking that with a weak but telling smile. "So that's it, huh? I switch to a different team, and suddenly our friendship means nothing. Suddenly, I'm the bad guy..."

"That's not what I mean…"

"Then, what do you mean? Come on, you can tell me."

"What I did that…back there…" Blake bit her lip. "It wasn't an accident."

"I know that, kitty."

"Would you _stop_ calling me that?" Blake knew Yang wasn't trying to be a racist. That she meant it as lovingly and as endearingly as Yang could ever be when she came up with a nickname for someone. "I get it, I'm not human. I'm a cat Faunus. I know that just as well as you do. I don't need the divide to remind me…"

"What divide?" At this, Yang actually did laugh. "There's never been one between us, never going to be either, unless you make one there."

Blake thought about that, long and hard. She'd always wanted to tell her team the truth, but the best that she could come up with was the simple wiggle of her ears. She'd left it at that. It was better, she assumed, and that she didn't play into the ideals that Faunus really were animals. Aero was just a child though, and among humans, he had no regulator. No alpha, and no family.

Blake filled that role by instinct. As a Faunus, it was in her nature to look after her own kind.

"In cat colonies, it's not uncommon for mother cats to share in the child rearing." Blake began slowly. "In lion prides, it's the same. If the females end up giving birth around the same time, they'll share those responsibilities." Scratching the back of her neck, she looked up from the water below, seeing Yang watch her intently. "Humans are more complicated in how they rationalize taking care of a child. It's not that simple, and realistically, it shouldn't be."

"Okay…soooo?" Yang murmured softly.

"Faunus nature isn't something a human a really comprehend, Yang." Blake finally told her. "We have the same intellect that you do, the same motivations and desires that any human might…but underneath that, we have our baser instinct…our much more animal instinct. So in my head, Aero is my responsibility…my kin...it's my job to correct him….to raise him." Blake continued slowly. "Just like, in your head, Ruby's your responsibility."

"Doesn't explain why you suddenly decided to grow fangs." Yang said softly, though there was humor in her tone.

"I scared you." Blake's tone little more than an apology.

"It freaked me out, I'll admit that…but only cause I wasn't expecting it. I didn't think you could…ya know?" Yang didn't want to say the last part, but, she knew Blake was waiting for it. Trying to guess at what was really going on in Yang's mind. "Kinda looked like…" Yang sighed, and shook her head.

She couldn't tiptoe around it. For the smallest moment, she'd feared the worst. She didn't interfere because Glynda had told her not to. Underneath that, she was afraid to make the matter worse. Afraid that if she got in-between them that Blake might have…just _might_ have…lashed out...might have lost it.

"Go ahead," Blake prompted. "You can say it."

Yang nodded, but she took a step forward, letting their arms brush against each other…hoping that might ease her words. Gentle them, somehow. "Blake, it looked like you were about to rip his neck out or something. I've never seen anyone look like that before."

There it was. Blake didn't like hearing it, but she'd known why Yang didn't tease her back in the bathroom. Why Yang had left her alone, and didn't pick a fight. Hearing it hurt, though. Blake wasn't sure how to quantify that, so she looked away again.

"I'd never abuse a child. Human or otherwise." She sighed at length. "No matter what I look like, though, I will never be completely human." Blending in never worked forever, after all. She could only confide in Yang, and trust her. Trust Yang not to hurt her, knowing the truth. "He's not a human child, Yang, he's a Faunus cub. There i _s_ a divide for him. There will always be one."

What else could she say to defend her actions? What else could she do, to prove she wasn't some sort of deranged monster? "I...I disciplined him in a way he would understand…if he'd grown up around humans, maybe I wouldn't have to act that way…but, he doesn't understand human punishments, or social norms."

"How did…you learn them?"

"I grew into it, just as every child does. We're no different in that way. He's not used to humans though, he hasn't had the chance." As if to nearly punctuate that statement, the little ball of hyperactivity nearly sent her overboard as he launched himself at her. "Aero…get down…"

Instead, his small claws were extended, gripping onto Blake's shoulders for dear life. "No!" He pointed behind him, not that Blake could see clearly with him taking up her line of vision. "She's got that thing again."

"What thing?" Blake scoffed, shaking her hair out of her eyes, and trying to fix her bow.

"That thing!"

"The riding crop…" Yang deadpanned.

"For the last time, I'm not going to hit you with it." Glynda sighed as she came up from behind Yang. "However, I must maintain preparedness. I can't have you wandering about unprotected."

"I'm not unprotected." He said, clinging onto Blake's uniform even tighter than before. He was liable to shred it to bits if anyone yanked him away now. "I have Blake."

"Blake is still a student at Beacon." Glynda told him. "She's under my protection too, technically."

"Aero, she uses that for her semblance…" Blake told him as she pried his body from her own. "Now…damn it…" She cursed as he clung tighter. "Stop…Aero…that…claws….Claws! Ow! Get down!" She finally managed to plop him back onto the floor, though it was none too gently. He immediately began to nuzzle her midriff with his head, causing her to sigh. "Do that again, and I'm going to clip them down to a reasonable length." Mentally she reminded herself to do the same with her own, next time she had a moment to herself.

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story  
…**

Nighttime was quiet out on the water. The lapping waves, the low drone of the propellers and engine, the distant sounds of splashes. Lighthouses dotted the rocky landscape. The brightness was as blinding as looking into the sun. With a sigh that spoke of the late hour, Yang toyed with a pebble that had been stuck in the cracks of her boot, flicking it into the depths ahead of her.

The soft plunk it made was mildly satisfying, though the distraction lasted nearly not long enough. Soon the boat passed over the ripples in the water, erasing them with its own. It had been a long, hard day.

"Difficulty sleeping?"

"Haven't tried." Yang turned to the voice, the one she'd been hoping to get alone with ever since dinnertime. "Aero and Blake asleep?"

"Sharing the same bunk, no less." Glynda nodded simply.

Yang huffed out of amusement, a smirk tugging at her lips. "How'd they manage that? Those beds are even smaller than the student ones at Beacon."

"Interesting little detail, that." Glynda replied, the tension easing from her. It was relaxing out here by the water. "I should have said; Blake is laying on the bed, and that Aero took to laying on Blake." Glynda merely let the pity show then. "He insisted. I do truly believe he's afraid of me."

"Or at least that riding crop of yours." Yang shrugged. "He snarled at me after dinner for an hour, all because I screwed up his hair a little bit."

"I believe he was merely protecting his ears." Glynda wasn't sure. Not exactly, but it was her best guess. "Perhaps I've been too hard on him."

"Na, it ain't that. The kid's just a little warped." Yang said thoughtfully. "Too much radical thinking, I guess."

"Or perhaps not radical enough." Glynda offered. "Radicals aren't always violent. They're pioneers fist and foremost. That's something often forgotten by extremist groups."

"Hmm." It was the most non-committal sound Yang had ever made. Then again, Yang had never been so unsure on a mission before.

There was one thing that Yang knew though. Without a shadow of a doubt. In the depth of that soft moonlit night, there was nothing more beautiful than the woman in front of her. Nothing more breathtaking than that dainty palm that rested on the metal railing. It wasn't the first time Yang noticed the true elegance of the older woman. She just couldn't deny the somewhat fragile disposition that Glynda carried about her.

She took that hand into her own, it was cool to the touch. "Dunno what got into him. It's not your fault though…it's not anyone's fault."

"I'd like to believe that." Glynda began. "But, someone or something, is always to blame."

"Not you…not when it comes to him."

"What about when it comes to you?" Glynda asked her. "Surely, I'm easily blamed for many things that directly correlates to your past." It really was far too cold to be walking around without something a little warmer on, but she'd forgotten her cape. "Perhaps you don't know in what ways, but, you do know I'm not without fault."

"If I thought for a second that I'd get what I wanted from you, I would have tried to get it the first time we talked." Right now though, Yang didn't want to know what was rolling around in Glynda's mind. She was much more interested in the chill she could feel radiating off the woman. "Not going to deny that you've been acting a bit more…I don't know…reserved I guess…recently."

"There are students with us." Glynda said softly as she leaned into Yang's touch.

"Blake doesn't rightly give a shit."

"I'd highly doubt that."

"Blake can get a stick up her ass with the best of them, it doesn't mean it's a huge deal." Yang admitted as she pulled Glynda into her arms effortlessly, pinning her to the door of a storage room. Glynda might have been far taller, but Yang was undoubtedly stronger. She evened the odds without even trying, and long, slender legs wrapped around her waist.

"What in the devil do you think you're doing?"

"I want you." Yang murmured against Glynda's lips before stealing a kiss passionately. It was rough, fast, and ended far too soon. "I want you to want me." She rolled her hips and she claimed Glynda's lips again, this time letting her fingers dig into those shapely hips that held the woman in her grasp steady. "I need you to need this. Don't you get that?"

"I'm not going to give you that level of validation." Glynda's hands pushed Yang away ever so gently, letting her feet touch the ground once more. "Not here…not like this."

"I can't take the way you just…see through me…like I'm just…" Yang shook her head. "Never mind. We already talked about that before."

"I never claimed to be a good person Yang, I've got my demons. Just as you have yours. I merely wish mine weren't so absolute." She was a rather manipulative person at times. Inwardly, she guiltily admitted that she was playing everyone to a finely woven tune. She could defend her actions all she wanted, saying it was for the good of others…and it was….but that didn't make it right. She hadn't been lying to Yang when she said this would be dangerous…but dangerous for who?

That was the ultimate question, and one Glynda didn't have an answer for.

She would not find the answer, either, as Yang desperately demanded her attention. Another kiss, innocently placed atop Yang's forehead in an attempt to soothe her started it all. But Yang was not content with a mere kiss. Her fingertips began to idly wander about. Trailing across Glynda's sides, down underneath the hemline of her shirt. Yang was trying to take control once more.

Yang's touch was some of the best Glynda could recall, but, it also had no place on the mission.

"This is not conducive to being on a mission…" Glynda chided foggily. "It's not even conducive to being-" Her eyes nearly rolled back in her head when she felt Yang nip at the nape of her neck. She suppressed her gasp forcefully, her breath hitching hard. "We're...we're out in the middle of the open."

"I don't care."

"You may not, but I do." Glynda said, pulling away again. She needed a moment to clear her head. Yang's infuriating, not to mention intoxicating, touch began to do more than just trail fire at her sides. It began to linger in deliciously maddening ways. Ways that would hurt too much to give into now, if only to have to give it up later. "Trust me, Yang. That isn't a step you want to make right now. Not here."

Rejection always hurt. Always without fail, but Yang took a breath. Glynda had wanted them to take it slow. Had wanted them to put their lives and careers first. Yang had to agree, it was…probably…for the best. "Okay…" she whispered, hardly finding her own voice. "Okay…yeah…you're probably right."


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Back with more…finally. Only 5 hours for today's blitz-off, so only one chunk. Emotional chapter ahead. Yes, I am a special sort of asshole.

 **Day 8, Chunk 1**

 **Same Ole Story**

Every gamble she made was more than just a risk of gains and losses.

It was a trial of mental endurance. Having sharp and quick wit was mandatory. Unfortunately, being well-rested was not. It was just before dawn on the third day of the voyage. It had been a long, boring trip. One that Glynda had been dreading since their departure. With barely concealed anxiety, she had been counting down the hours until Raven Branwen decided to show herself. It was anyone's guess when she might, seeing as the devious woman loved the act of surprise.

Glynda hadn't spoken a word about it to anyone, not even Ozpin, though, he never felt inclined to ask about it, either. A good thing too, considering his obscene and sometimes questionable humor.

Yang's mother was on this ship, sitting in a first class cabin, enjoying premium services allotted to her by Winter Schnee. No one was above bribery if the price was right. Raven was a capricious individual on a good day. On a bad day, one might even call her a she-devil. A demoness dressed as a mortal. Raven was God-given proof that no matter what ideology a person might have, nothing was set in stone.

Everyone could fall, everyone eventually did, especially when pushed to the brink.

And, that's what Raven depended on at every turn. Pushing boundaries. Bending laws. Breaking them. Shattering the very core of the civilized world, crumpling things she didn't care for underfoot. There was a good chance that any one of them might be next. Still, Glynda knocked on the door she had been asked to, and waited.

"Glynda Goodwitch, what a pleasure."

"I wish I could say the same under the circumstances."

"Well, that's a pity. I could very easily make it your pleasure if you'd prefer."

Glynda chomped down on her ire before a rude remark could come flying out of her mouth…but honestly, what should she have expected? Raven had never been known to believe in modesty, and common decency was always a coin toss. "There is nothing on the face of this Grimm infested planet that would make me want to warm your bed. Put some proper clothes on, for heaven's sake!"

Raven stood, a shadow of the image that Glynda used to remember. Her hair was still long and unkempt. Black as night. Her eyes were as beautiful as always, a playfully sinister color. Red, not unlike blood and fire. Her lips were luscious, her contours feminine, and her desire as plain as could be. That she blocked the doorway wearing little more than a negligée, spoke of her more ravenous desires.

"Hey now, is that really any way to speak to an old friend?" Raven asked as she closed the door behind her.

"We could hardly be called friends, given the situation."

"Family, then."

"Excuse me? That's hardly fitting."

Raven raised an eyebrow. Those red eyes of her twinkling. It wasn't rage, it wasn't wisdom. It was the same look a serpent might give to a rodent, before swallowing it whole. "Isn't it though?" She asked as she guided Glynda deeper into the cabin. "Isn't _that_ what you call a person who fraternizes with your own blood?"

"I wouldn't know." Glynda shrugged, acid lacing her tone. "I have no blood to speak of, but you already knew this."

"So it comes down to that again, does it?" Raven asked snidely.

"It doesn't have to, but if that's where the accusations fall, so be it." Glynda icily replied.

"Coveting is a mortal sin, you know." Raven replied dangerously. Not in a way that implied a threat, but rather, a way that promised doom. "And when it comes to that, I'd step lightly if I were you."

"Speaking from experience?" Glynda shot back. "Last I heard, you don't practice a thing you preach."

Careful now," Raven all but cooed. "Wouldn't want to cross any lines, now, would we?"

"You were the one to refer to me as family." Glynda was angry about that. A white hot rage starting to bubble in blood. "What's gotten into you, making claims like that?"

"Well, what else should I call you? Anyone who involves themselves in Yang's life should be considered family. Either that, or a rapist. I've yet to decide which one you are, though."

"That's just sick." Glynda edged, feeling her own annoyance rise even further. "I most certainly have not, and would never."

"I know you haven't." Raven murmured, stepping closer. Glynda stood her ground, but Raven was hardly impressed. "You don't have it in you, but you're still the twisted little goody-goody that I've always known. Isn't that right, Ms. Goodwitch?" The question left hanging in the air was punctuated with an invitation. "You want to fuck? Here I am, baby, come at me. I guarantee you won't regret it."

Glynda rolled her eyes. Yang's nearness was endearing, passionate, and soft. Raven's was harsh, threatening, and unwelcome. "With all due respect, which, I clarify is indeed very little, Yang is eighteen years old. She's an adult, and a full-fledged huntress under Ozpin's command. If you truly take issue with my conduct though, perhaps you should take that up with him. Although, if you had a spine, you'd take it up with Yang personally."

"Temper, temper." Raven laughed then, dark, sultry…everything Glynda expected and more. "Still have that sharp tongue of yours, even after all this time." Though, there was a crack of a true grin, troublesome as always, that curved her lips upwards. "You really haven't changed much, have you?"

"None of us truly have." Glynda said with a sigh as soon as Raven took a few steps backwards. "You haven't either, it seems."

"Oh, relax, Glyn. I'm just fucking with you." Raven finally offered something of a distant smile. "I...had to be sure."

"I hardly see the reason to be so uncouth about the matter." Glynda took the time to examine her surroundings. Anything to keep from even glancing at Raven. It was a single room, but it had a posh sitting area, and what Glynda was sure had to be a proper bathroom as well. "Put some real clothes on, would you…"

"As you wish." A black and red yukata rested over an arm chair. Raven slipped it on. "Though I have no idea why you're acting so scandalized. It's nothing you haven't see before…or rather, nothing you won't see in the future. I hope you got a good look of what you can look forward too as Yang gets older."

"If you want to know the nature of my relationship with her, then there are most certainly better ways to go about it." Glynda said, unwilling to speak about her relationship with Yang. As she had made clear before, Raven didn't need to know. "Furthermore, the reason for our meeting has nothing to do with Yang."

"I know it doesn't." Raven replied simply as she pulled out the finest bottle of whiskey she had. "I'm aware of the circumstances. I don't need an explanation on the boy."

"I assume you have some sort of plan…"

Taking the top off of the glass bottle, Raven poured two glasses of the amber substance. "You lead him out of the region, I'll take him, train him into something worthwhile." She handed Glynda one, which the blonde took hesitantly. "Then I'll give him to one of the outlying communities along Vale. A lion Faunus his size might be worthless as a farmhand, give him a few years though, it'll be worthwhile. No war, no fighting. Peaceful life for a questionable youth." She took a sip of her own glass. "That, or I'll teach him the tricks of my trade. That'll work too. Might be more suited."

"I hardly see why you can't do the rest of this on your own." Glynda sighed, taking a sip of her own drink and sitting down.

"I'm doing you a favor, Glyn." Raven said with a smile, sitting down crossed legged and dragging a table between them. A deck of cards rested in the middle. "I'm happy to do it too, but I'm not going to take the fall if this goes south. I have enough people on my ass. I'm not pissing off one of the major world powers on top of it." She shuffled the deck, and placed it back onto the table. "So, since I'm playing your little game, why not play mine?"

"Because your games are rude, uncouth, and completely deranged."

"Mm, but, isn't that what makes it fun?" Raven asked, taking another swig of the smooth drink in her hands. "Cut the cards, Glyn. Tell me why I saw you in Yang's arms."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Sneaking out of Beacon was pretty typical of JNPR. They all did it for some reason or another. Creeping around down the dark hallways had been laughingly dubbed rights of passage in the past, in hopes that they wouldn't be caught. Pyrrha tended to do it less than the others, and never late at night. Jaune was normally a good student, so his sneaking about had to do more with training than anything else.

Nora was the troublesome one, but Ren always accompanied her. Neither of them ever thought twice about breaking school rules, mostly because they were used to being alone. True, they didn't want to get expelled, but authority figures weren't all that freighting. Having no family of their own had left an impression. The streets had done more to raise them than rules and regulations ever could.

Knowing all of this, Weiss decided Pyrrha should accompany the next mission.

The red-head could only smile a bit as she listened to Weiss. The mission was easy. Go to the bar, ask around. See who knows anything, and keep out of trouble. "It's our next best move…" Weiss finished, knowing that trying to drag Pyrrha into a bar might not go over well. "I know it seems questionable, and I'd be the first to agree with you, but we don't have a choice in the matter. Not if we want to make strides forward in short order."

"This friend of Yang's you speak of…he is of good character, I'd assume?"

"That remains to be seen." Weiss deadpanned.

Pyrrha smiled nervously. "Is he at the very least credible?"

"He's a bartender." Weiss said as convincingly as she could. "I don't think he's untrustworthy, but, he's got to get his information from somewhere. Let the actions speak for themselves."

"Weiss, come on…don't do that." Ruby scolded. "Judging people by the cover doesn't do anyone any good."

"This is different, Ruby." Weiss argued, a hand coming up to rest on her hip. "Very different." She regarded Pyrrha slowly. "If it looks like foul place, and smells of foul play, then it _probably is_ foul play."

"That's my concern." Pyrrha said quietly.

"Weiss, stop." Ruby scolded, with a cookie half in her mouth. "Remember your fight with Blake? And come on Pyrrha, you too? Are we really doing this?"

"I'm only trying to treat the situation with due caution, Ruby. He's probably a fine, upstanding man. I've never met him though, and I cannot be sure." Pyrrha soothed as she looked up to Ruby's bunk. The girl was munching on cookies and happily kicking her feat as she studied. The epitome of innocence. "Weiss, on the topic of thing's I'm not sure about..."

"What is it?"

"Well, do you think it wise to take Ruby to that kind of place?"

Weiss frowned in thought. "She has been to that bar before…"

"With Yang perhaps, but with us?" She gave Weiss a look. "Not that we can't handle a few ruffians, should the matter arise. Like it or not, Ruby is still quite young for that sort of establishment. We're not exactly her parents, or her guardian…or sister..."

Weiss grew wide-eyed at what Pyrrha was hinting at. "Oh, that." Frowning then, she shook her head. "Nor are we legal drinking age. That doesn't stop Yang, or Blake for that matter."

"The bar serves minors?"

"I saw him do it."

"Mmm, you guys, I can still hear you, ya know." Ruby said as she hopped off of her bed and closed her book. "If Yang really didn't want me going, she would have told me not to. She takes that protective older sister thing way too far sometimes…"

"Be that as it may, Ruby, I think you should leave this investigation to us." Pyrrha turned to Weiss. "If we take Ren with us, there might be a chance we can get whatever information you want cleanly and discreetly…without anyone losing composure."

"Do you really think that I can't handle it?" Ruby asked with every ounce of honesty she could muster.

It was a hard question to answer for Pyrrha, who had a very conservative view of the world. She was, perhaps, more sheltered than Weiss in some respects. "I don't believe that's the true question at hand, Ruby." Pyrrha said then as she tried to find the best way to voice her concern. "It comes down to a matter of principle. Yang said herself that she didn't want you and Weiss going there on your own. I can only imagine why. All of the options are less than savory. It raises concern, that's all."

"What kind of-Eeek!"

Pyrrha had Ruby pinned to the wall in a matter of moments. Ruby was a strong girl, but not stronger than Pyrrha. The redhead held her wrists to the wall easily with one hand, leaving Ruby defenseless. "This kind of concern, Ruby." Pyrrha replied, her other hand staying respectfully on Ruby's hip. The way she drummed her fingers along Ruby's midriff implied it might go wandering at any moment. "Against Grimm, I've no doubt of your skill and ability…but say that I'm not a Grimm. Say that I'm someone looking to have my way with you, what would you do?"

"I…uhh…" Ruby sighed. "I'm not afraid of some stupid guys." She'd never really been in this kind of position before. She wasn't sure she entirely disliked it either, but only because it was Pyrrha. Someone she could trust, and not some stranger looking for something gross. "It's different because it's you. I can handle myself in a street fight."

"Who says I'm the type of person to look for a fight?"

"You'd end up getting one if you were some strange dude I didn't even know." Ruby retorted. "I know what you're trying to get at, but I'm not that easy to pin down. Even if I was, I'd be with you two. They'd have to get me alone, and unarmed, and that's assuming they can catch me first."

Pyrrha and Weiss shared a look, and then, the redhead let Ruby go. "We're trying to keep a low profile in all of this. If you can't dispatch an assailant quietly, it might pose an issue. I'm not saying I think you're incapable. I just think that we should build a team more suited to diplomatic negotiation."

"Have you even _met_ my sister?"

"Fair point." Weiss interjected. "That's part of the problem though, none of us are like Yang. We need to do this carefully, Ruby. That means being as in control of the situation as possible."

"I know." Ruby nodded. "I won't screw this up."

Pyrrha blinked, taking a breath. "Ruby…?"

"I'm not a baby." She murmured, eyed downcast, voice shaking. "I know not everyone is trustworthy, remember how I even got here in the first place?" The back of her hand raised up to rub at her eyes. "I'm doing the best I can, but with Yang and Blake both gone, that's half of my team. The only one left is Weiss." Ruby swallowed hard, looking Pyrrha in the eyes, lower lip quivering under an insurmountable level of stress and exhaustion. "You still have your entire team, but what do we have?"

"Me…" Pyrrha's voice was ever so careful to speak, as if her next few words could shatter the girl. It probably wasn't very far from the truth. "Ruby, I promised Yang I'd look after you. The night of her graduation, she asked Jaune and I personally. She wanted us to make sure you stayed safe. I'm not going to break that promise."

"This is my fight too." Ruby finally protested with a shake of her head. "No one is taking that away from me. Not Yang, and not you." Pointing fingers wouldn't help. She knew that. Even so, she was angry, so, so angry. "Blake might be after the White Fang, but I've got unfinished stuff to take care of. If I had caught Torchwick when I first ran into him, then that whole thing at the docks might not have happened. Maybe he wouldn't have teamed up with the White Fang, and maybe Blake would be able to relax more often."

"Not even Glynda Goodwitch, a seasoned and highly acclaimed huntress could capture him." Pyrrha reminded the youngest among them. "What makes you think that we can?"

"Because he's _still_ out there." That was all that needed to happen. Ruby knew it, she'd run into him again one day…and when she did... "I'm not going to let him hurt anyone else. He's not going to get away from me next time…and there's going to be one, I can feel it."

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Blake woke up to over fifteen new messages waiting on her scroll. Even though she had the sound set virtually to silent, she could hear the buzz. Her eyes picked up the dull blinking screen. Every time a new one was sent, it blitzed her in the face. Annoying light she couldn't ward away. With Yang still sleeping, and Glynda nowhere to be found, she lifted the scroll with one hand, mindful of Aero, who was more than happily curled around her as he slept.

She almost wished she has someone she could bury her own face into, keeping her warm and sheltered…or at least away form that incessant blinking light.

Blake expected a handful of the texts to be from Ruby. Perhaps one from Weiss, and another few from Velvet. All of that would have made sense, but to see messages from Goodwitch surprised her.

Ever so carefully, she extracted her body from beneath Aero. He made a grumpy little growl until a pillow replaced her space. He cuddled into it once more. Blake dressed quickly, sneaking out, and meeting near a far corner of the ship. For all of her stealth and ability, Blake was no match for Glynda's keen senses.

"You weren't followed, were you?"

"No, I'd know better than that." Blake replied, from beneath the hood of one of her overlong sweatshirts. It was cold on the water, and she wanted to avoid putting on her bow for as long as possible. Aero had a tendency to jostle it. Tugging the zipper higher, she peaked out from the hood. "What did you want to talk about?"

"The White Fang."

"No."

"You don't have to say a word. This isn't an interrogation." Glynda's lips tightened into a stern, thin, line. "But, you will listen to what I have to say…and you will take it into consideration for now, and into the near future. Those are my orders to you. As a student of Beacon, you must follow them, do you understand this?"

"I'm listening."

"It's become increasingly obvious to me that you have no idea what becomes of ex-White Fang members after they escape."

"And I suppose you know?"

"Cut the attitude. It doesn't do you any favors."

"It doesn't have to." Blake said distantly. "It just has to keep me alive."

"Then let me enlighten you." At first, Glynda wasn't sure what Yang expected of them. Now though, with a little bit of perspective, Glynda had come to understand Blake's conviction, even if the motivation still eluded her. "Most of them are sent up north. Beacon has a deal with Winter Schnee. She'll hide away any ex-members willing to testify against the terrorist group. Needless to say, many informants have ratted out their comrades. Those unwilling to take the plea-deal have been sentenced to death because of it."

"What'll happen to the informants after the White Fang gets put down for good?" Blake asked, though she suspected the worst.

"They're her property." Glynda replied. "She'll do with them as she wishes."

"Slavery…" Blake snarled.

"Cowardice, more like." Glynda murmured quietly. "If it helps, it isn't as if she treats them unkindly."

"It doesn't make it right!"

"No, of course not. Winter fully agrees about that, but, how else is she to keep them from the wrath of the government?"

Blake bit down on her lower lip. She'd been trying to think of a way to force Faunus equality, but she didn't have a better answer. "I don't know, but there's got to be a better way."

"In time, yes. I'm sure there will be." Glynda murmured, letting that simple truth soak into the emotions around them. Tense, angry, bitter emotions. "Until then, naturally, White Fang would be sentenced to death immediately if not sooner. Winter's property however?" Glynda shook her head. "Call it crude if you like, but so long as they belong to her, they're safe. Her status, money, and power are not things with which to be trifled with. The government would never assume she would take in White Fang members, given her bloodline…it's the perfect front."

"Does she ever plan to release them?"

"That I do not know." Glynda replied, having wondered that herself on more than one occasion. "It's genius really. The Schnee Dust Company has no qualms about owning slaves. Most are trafficked in from other areas. Poor parents usually, who have no hope but to defer to ownership. The children grow into the ideal, the ownership continues." She leveled her gaze at Blake. "Winter's practices are more sinister when you come to think about it. Her slaves sold themselves off. Their lives, in exchanged for their freedom. They knew what they were giving up."

"That's absolutely sick." Blake spat, before something even more disgusting came to mind. "Does Weiss know?"

"No, and I'd appreciate you keep this in confidence."

"Faunus became White Fang to fight against this sort of depravity…and now you're telling me that my Faunus brethren have been selling their souls to the Schnee Dust Company? The very same company we've plotted against for years? That we risked our lives, and the lives of thousands of innocent bystanders to rise up against?!"

"Well, they defer to Winter particularly, though some of them do work in the mines owned by the company. I have a feeling that'll change soon enough."

"It's the same thing!"

"I assure you, it isn't."

"Yes, it is!" Blake hollered. "We're above that! Willing to die for the cause, because too many have already lost their lives to lose this war…and that's exactly what it is. A war for our rights and freedoms. Ones we should have been given by now."

"Are you willing to die for it…this cause of yours?"

"Yes…"

"Even now, as a student of Beacon?"

Blake gave Glynda a seething look. "It shouldn't even be a question. I may be a student of Beacon, but I'm a Faunus. I'm going to stop anything and everything that gets in the way of our ability to move forward as equals. If that means stopping the White Fang, so be it. I'd feel the same of any collective group resorting to mass violence to get what it wants. Human, Faunus, or Grimm, I don't care!"

"And that selfsame conviction," Glynda began, "Is what kept you from being offered the same plea deal as the others."

" _What?"_ Blake snarled, hands balled into fists.

Green eyes rolled, even as she forced out a sigh. "We put you and Weiss in the Emerald Forest together as a test. One you could have very easily failed. Instead, you passed with flying colors, and here you are."

"Did you really think I was going to try to kill her?"

"Of course not." Glynda said with just a hint of a smile. "I would never intentionally endanger new students. However, the chance was there, you could have taken it. You most certainly didn't need to fight by her side when your teams hadn't been decided. Yet, both your team and JNPR stood together, albeit questionably so. It solidified our choice to keep you enrolled in Beacon. Winter turned the other cheek, and that was that."

"But the train car…"

"Came out of Beacon's coffers."

"And the assignations…"

"Ordered by a superior officer. You were merely following the chain of command."

Blake closed her eyes. "All of the danger I've put everyone else in..."

"Collateral damage, and none of your concern." Glynda replied. "That responsibility falls to Ozpin and I. We've assigned the teams, the missions, and resorted to complacency. We hold the burden. You may stop fearing for your livelihood, now, Blake Belladonna. Insofar as Beacon is concerned, you're merely another young huntress who continues to be a thorn in my backside…and that is all you need ever be…"

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Raven was already gone when the boat got to shore. As a first class passenger, she was one of the first permitted to exit, and she disappeared without a trace. It was probably a good thing too, because Glynda still needed to talk to Yang, and she needed to do it delicately. She wasn't sure how to warn Yang about Raven's involvement in the mission, but she knew something had to be done.

Yang had seemed distracted all day, and that never did anyone any good.

"We'll be staying in port tonight." Glynda told the girls, all while eyeing a very grumpy looking Aero. He was being anchored to their little group once more. Blake had him by the hand, half dragging him along as he stumbled along the cobblestone. "Proper lodgings have been arranged by Ozpin in advanced. Blake, I would appreciate if you were to take Aero and go on ahead. It should be a single room with two double beds."

"Yeah…" Blake said, feeling more than a little clueless. "Sure thing. I'll send word on my scroll as soon as I get it figured out."

Yang was a bit surprised. "You…trust Blake with Aero now?"

"I trust she'll no longer try to protect him from me." Glynda replied airily. "But more importantly than that, Yang, I trust she won't betray you. We need to have a talk, and quite honestly, it's not one that I should be having with you. The person who should be, would much rather be difficult about the situation."

"What did my uncle do now?" Yang asked.

"Yang, it wasn't your uncle, it was your mother."

"Raven…contacted….you…"

"We contacted her." Glynda couldn't keep the edge out of her voice. "Winter and I."

"…You…" Yang had no words. "How did you even..."

"She's our contact for this mission." Glynda said slowly. "Unbeknownst to you, she was on that boat traveling in a first class compartment. Furthermore, she and I…we shared words before dawn."

"What kind of words? What did she say?" Yang was clinging onto every little hint that Glynda gave her. Hope and disappointment at war inside of those lilac pools. "Where is she now?"

"I don't know where she is, but, she's not ready to meet up with us just yet." She pulled Yang off to the side, entering a little bar and finding a place in the corner to sit. "But Yang, listen, she _is_ eventually going to cross our path."

"Why didn't you _tell_ me?!"

"Because I wanted her to tell you herself."

"Then...why didn't she?" The floodgates opened.

"Yang…oh, god Yang…no." Those lilac eyes flared red, seeing it was so very soul crushing. "No…no…don't do that…" Glynda breathed, seeing those hot, angry, and rightfully confused tears. "It'll be okay…it'll be okay." Saying it wasn't enough. "You'll be able to get your answers, Yang, I promise."

Guilt rammed into her gut as she tried to rationalize all of her actions into a neat little box. Compartmentalizing them in the corners of her mind, just like always. A good excuse, and little more…for some reason, seeing Yang's tears made all of those little truths and logics worthless.

"I just don't get it." Even Yang's palms couldn't hide her tears. They just kept slipping out, and Yang couldn't control it. "Fuck…" Her trembling wrists were pulled away from her face. Wet green eyes stared back at her.

"Don't give up." Glynda said, so quietly, it was hardly a sound at all. "You need to be strong, Yang. You've going to have a very difficult decision to make going forward."

Yang took a trembling breath, but she has no words. Just tears and emotions she had no idea what to do with.

"Focus on me." Glynda said, lifting her hands to cup Yang's cheeks. "Not your doubts, not your anger. Me."

But, Yang was angry. Angrier than the pain she'd learned to push away for so long. Angrier than the sadness that she put up with. All of the things she wanted to say, everything she wanted to ask, sank under the weight that Yang was left alone yet again in her life. When she finally managed a sentence, it was strangled between fury and loneliness. "She was right there…right fucking there and I…"

"I know." Thumbs gently running along those tearstained cheeks, she pressed a kiss to Yang's forehead, before pulling her into a tight hug. "I know, sweetheart…I know, but I need you to find your strength. I need you to be able to listen to me, because we have to have an important talk, and it can't wait…can you focus on my voice, please, just for a little while?"

Glynda glanced at their surroundings. They were on the edge of Vale in a pub. It wouldn't be the first time a pair of defeated huntresses would sit huddled in a corner, and it would not be the last. That tragedy was what afforded Glynda the luxury to hold Yang in her arms. To the patrons, they were two women who'd probably just seen hell and little more.

Outsiders would never know the real reason. They'd never dare question it. The Grimm attacks a boarder conflicts promised that tiny security.

Yang finally, weakly, managed to nod as her sobs slowly stopped.

"Alright…we're taking Aero to the outlying villages that stand independent from Vale. The bordering farmlands are safer for him there. When we arrive at our destination, Raven's going to be there, and I'll be leaving Aero in her care…Yang, are you with me so far?"

Another nod, just as despondent as the last.

"By law, you and I cannot cross into that boarder without clearance from Ozpin. We do not have that clearance, so we'll be parting ways there…but, Yang, you have a very real choice to make in all of this. You can cross the border with Raven, or, return to Beacon with me."

"If I…" Yang couldn't even form the words. "I won't be able to come back, will I?"

"No, not without being convicted for traitorous actions." Feeling that inadequate, she cupped Yang's cheek, forcing them to meet eye-to-eye. "Ozpin can't sanction it. We're allied with Atlas, do you understand? They've wanted to get at those outlier districts for years…given how many White Fang go into hiding out there. If Ozpin were to allow us to cross the border without council approval, it may mean the war that Atlas had been wanting. The boarder conflicts are at a low boil and manageable. Ozpin aims to keep it that way, but if he starts deploying hunters deep beyond the territory line, it'll be considered an aggressive act on our part. Atlas would follow suit."

Yang was quiet. She didn't even know what to say.

"Yang?"

Lilac met viridian. "Give me a reason."

"What?"

"Give me a reason…" Her heart felt like it was shattering in two, and in reality, it had been for a long time. The life she knew was safe and comfortable. It had people she cared about, but it was empty in the dead of night. She had no way to quiet all of the murmurs that went on in her head. On the other side of the coin, a life waited for her full of answers, full of the adventure she wanted…full of the things she craved from her job as a huntress. "Please…I...just one…"

One little word. That's all Yang wanted…all she needed right then and there….one little insignificant word…or small phrase.

 _Stay...don't go...don't leave..._

Just that much.

Glynda closed her eyes. "Yang, I can't."

"You're the only one who can."

"This choice has to be yours." Glynda breathed. "I cannot, _will not_ , influence the outcome."

And just like that, the foundation of the life Yang knew began to crumble into tiny bits. Yang was seeing red, was feeling it boil in her blood, in her heart. Nothing had hurt so much. Had stung so deeply, than not being asked to stay. Her home had already been torn asunder more times than Yang herself could rationally count, and here it was, lingering over the precipice once again.

Forced there, by all of the dreams and desires that sat before her now…

…unrealistic pipedreams made real…but, at a cost…

She risked never seeing her father again, or Ruby, or Qrow. She risked leaving her friends behind forever, but those were things she had always been willing to weigh against the odds. Those were things she could leave behind, knowing that her absence wouldn't be the end of the world. Ruby would bounce back, wouldn't blame her…and even as sisters, they'd always understand the connection and promises they made.

But all Yang wanted was one good reason…someone who needed her, just like people needed air to breathe.

It seemed like no one would give her just that one little thing...no matter how much she begged for it.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: We had a 4 hour blitz, convention time is coming up, so we are all getting ready for that, and haven't really had time to write. Anyway, onward and upward, to more depression, angst, and other stuff…some implied future romance mixed in too. Only one chunk.

 **Day 9, chunk 1**

 **Same Ole Story**

Text messages kept coming back and forth from Glynda's scroll. It was Ruby, keeping her updated on a little bar excursion happening just outside of Beacon. Ruby, Pyrrha, and Weiss were going to check in on a rather shady barkeep. Glynda wasn't happy about it, but kept a vigilant watch on the messages coming in, being sure to send outbound instructions to the girls.

Yang's scroll, turned to silent, had been thoroughly ignored for the past few hours. The blonde in question unable to even look at the thing, let alone form a reply.

The girls finally reported that the interrogation ended with no casualties, but also no results. Junior wasn't talking, at least, not anything worthwhile. Once they were safely back at the school, Glynda could return to the real issue taking a toll on her mind.

Yang…

The silence in the room was unwelcome. Stifling, in fact, and it dragged everyone into an abyss with it. Even Aero saw fit to crouch under the bed, flicking his ears every so often, showing his upset. Blake took to reading, one hand dangling off the edge of the bed she was sitting on. Occasionally, she'd rub at Aero's ears when a little whine would work its way up from his throat.

Glynda was not a Faunus herself, but as she was starting to learn, Aero picked up on visual cues far better than vocal ones. She could only barely guess what his young mind was making of the situation. She was sure he was blaming himself. Youth tended to do that, even when it wasn't their fault.

Yang, the unequivocal black hole of the group merely sat quietly, unwaveringly calm. She was the epicenter for a blowout waiting to happen, but, it wasn't coming. Somehow, Glynda got the impression that this was not a good sign…and not just for the obvious conclusions. But rather, for another reason entirely.

Ozpin's words rang true, and with great care, Glynda sat on the edge of the bed Yang flopped around on.

It was time that Glynda came to terms with the past that she had buried long ago. The part of the tale protected by her own soul. Buried deep, because she could not find the words to speak of it before. She doubted, even now, that she would be able to fully give form to her emotions.

Still, Glynda knew she had to try. "The White Fang…they are not the only radical group to shake an angry fist at the world. They won't be the last. We may say what we want when it comes to equal rights for everyone, but, it's all so convoluted anyway…" She began slowly, trying to gauge the temperature in the room…waiting for the rage induced slander that never came.

She continued. "Most of the time, a person's best simply isn't good enough. They fail, and they fall. For the rest of us still alive, each step forward, is a step placed on the corpses of the dead. When you first come to realize that, it's sickening…because it's a friend…a loved one that you leave behind. It's a numbing sort of feeling."

No movement, not a twitch from any of the three around her. It left a sour note of despondency…one she needed to push past. With brazen disregard for the turmoil she knew she might inflict, she went on. The edge in her voice soft, even as it cut through the thick air. "History books have names for it, but, when I was your age, we just called it 'the war'. That was it. Those two little words could rip teams in half. Faunus and humans alike."

Still no movement. Still no sign of anything other than emptiness. She wondered if her voice was even being heard. "Friends, teammates, families…killed. Blood and aura as far as the eye could see…Grimm on the outskirts of that…we romanticized battle. It was the only thing we knew how to do…we were just kids after all…and…"

She trailed off. Why was she doing this? Speaking to the air, like it even mattered…as if anything she might say could even make a difference.

"We…" She shook her head. "We didn't understand hatred. We didn't fathom the kind of damage it could do. In a world where racism ran rampant, we couldn't bring ourselves to think that way. We were young radicals, all of us. Here we were being told to take down our enemy. They were our classmates, comrades. I…" She cut herself off again. With a breath, she rephrased her sins. "The amount of blood on our hands…Faunus blood…human blood…I can't quantify those things. It's not all black and white…it's just red…all of it…and when you're standing in puddles of it, you can't even tell which is which anymore…"

Glynda sighed. She couldn't take the silence anymore. She couldn't deal with the memories of toppled allies resting atop funeral pyres. Faunus burned only to keep plague from spreading across the battle field. Not out of respect for the dead…merely an action based on cleanliness. Her fallen friends spat on, kicked, and sullied. How could she explain all of that?

How sick it made them, how disgusted and hopeless they'd felt?

She was about to stop talking entirely, but, golden eyes raised from that book. Blake was watching her with an expression that boarded pity. "Keep going…" Blake said gently, though the undercurrent of her tone was sharper than glass. Glynda flicked her gaze over to Yang. Those deep lilac orbs focused on something only Yang herself seemed to see. Before Glynda could get caught up too deeply, Blake spoke again. "I said, keep going…" It wasn't so gentle this time.

Even Yang flinched at the tone.

It was then, Glynda realized, this was the sort of thing someone should have told Yang years ago. Someone owed Yang this explanation, and they'd all pinned it on Raven. She was the easy scapegoat, but none of them were innocent. Even Blake had a right to hear this, too. Blake wanted it out there...in the open...what her kin had suffered, what Yang was blissfully unaware of.

Glynda took a breath and nodded. "There were a few handfuls of us that couldn't handle the situation…we refused to accept it, and we retaliated. Suddenly, we found ourselves ostracized by everyone. Our Faunus friends distrusted us, our human ones felt like we were betraying them…and in the midst of the war, it came down to moral choices. Those that were too afraid to speak out chose a side and went with it…conformity little more than shackles. The rest of us…the rest of us…"

"Say it." Blake growled dangerously. "Say it before I make you…"

"Blake, stop!" Yang shouted, eyes closed as her voice cracked. "She doesn't have to do this…"

"Oh, yes she does..." Blake murmured, the heat in her voice gone. The knowing gaze remained. The blood on Glynda's hands had been drowning her for too long, and Blake, she knew all about that. All about sins you wanted to wash away, even if you knew you never could. Blake felt that way every time she looked at Weiss...and she knew Glynda felt that way every time the woman looked at Yang.

These sins needed to be spoken.

"Shut up, Blake…" Yang warned, her voice still shaking. "Shut up, before I beat the shit out of you."

But continue Glynda did, because she couldn't justify hiding her part from Yang anymore. "We broke every rule, regulation, and law possible."

Lilac eyes shot to her. Yang had been listening. Listening and absorbing everything.

So Glynda kept going. "We painted targets on our backs, because we couldn't take the truth. We couldn't deal with it. All of our ideologies crumbled under the weight of bigotry. We couldn't even hold our own valor upright…we were no older than you, and we had no power to stop it."

"I don't understand what it is that you're trying to say…" Yang butted in. "But I really, really, wish you would stop."

"Yang, I don't know why your mother left…but you're not the only one she abandoned…" Glynda said tersely. "You're not the only one she's hurt in all of this, you're not the only victim."

"Yeah…" Yang hissed, her hair catching flame. "No shit…but you could have done something. You _fucking should_ have!"

Blake closed her book with a soft thud, sitting upright as she then smacked Yang in the face with it. It startled Yang, putting out the fire before it could set anything else aflame. "You two are both idiots." She gave Glynda a critical gaze, but shook it off a moment later. "People run away blind because they're scared…but that's not the only kind of running you can do, and if you're both so stupid that you don't see that, then that's on you…" She picked her book up off the floor, eyeing Yang again. "Don't make me hit you like that again…you know I don't like doing it."

Yang gave Blake a look, but other than start a fight, she just made her way to the door. "I'm gunna get some air." She nearly slammed it on her way out.

"Shit…" Glynda sighed, the curse falling between clenched teeth.

Blake went back to reading, her words as deadpanned and annoyed as could ever be. "She's pissed…"

"Clearly."

"So, what are you waiting for, an invitation?"

"I hardly need to justify my actions…"

"So, then why are you trying to?"

Glynda only sighed, another curse falling from her lips.

"Far be it from me to tell you what to do, but, actions speak louder than words."

"Trust me, I know that all too well."

"She's your idiot partner now...and from what I gather, in more ways than one." Blake murmured, page turning. "Go beat some sense into her."

"I hardly think that's a go-"

"See this book?" Blake interrupted. "She's got gasoline for brains when she's upset. I smacked her with it to snap her out of it, but she's one more blown fuse away from catching fire again. Go. Go do whatever it takes to get her to calm down. Just go."

Glynda pushed herself off the bed and marched out of the door, trying to think of where Yang might have run off to. There were any number of bars, but that didn't seem the right place to start. She marched along the water front, eyes and ears on high alert, asking the passersby when she came across one. Glynda knew Yang couldn't have gotten far…but clearly, it was far enough.

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Aero had seen and heard everything from his place under the bed. He sniffed the air, confused, brows furrowed. Since Blake was the only one in the room, he crept out from his hiding spot, sniffing around. He did it quite loudly in fact, and it drew Blake's attention for a second. She went back to reading though, allowing him to indulge his curiosity. Boys would be boys, after all, and Blake remembered what it was like to be around humans as a child.

All of their misdirected words and phrases clashed with their body language.

Even particularly direct humans were hard to fully understand, because humans were adept liars. It was part of their culture. Blake now understood it as modesty. They'd hide their feelings and keep the truth tightly bound down. They wouldn't always be blunt, because that was considered rude. They left overt gestures alone for the most part, seeming not to like acting rashly…unless, of course, they were trying to be jerks.

…even seemingly friendly humans, like Yang, often came across as total air-heads because of the mixed messages.

In fact, that's why Blake knew she favored Yang back in the forest. As far as humans went, Yang Xiao Long was as direct and overt as could be. That was actually quite rare, all things considered.

Faunus held no such reservation over their emotions. Everything came through with imagery, body language, and scent. Spoken words were only afterthoughts to a much more complicated and diverse social system, as varied as the Faunus themselves. Honesty and total lack decorum were sometimes the only way for Faunus to aptly communicate. How else, after all, were Faunus of such diverging species supposed to co-exist peacefully?

If it wasn't for their brutal honesty and obviousness, there would be no way for predator and prey Faunus to get along as equals.

Still, humans weren't like the Faunus. Glynda and Yang were a very confusing jumble of emotion, and their scents depicted this. Of course Aero would be curious. He didn't smell what he thought he should be smelling. Cocking his head to the side, he looked to his retainer. "Blake?"

"Hmm?"

"Why does it smell weird?"

She rolled her golden eyes at the question. "Humans have different ways to mark territory. Scent is a spur of the moment thing. They might enjoy a smell, or take comfort in it…but they certainly don't claim ownership like we do."

"But…you said-"

"Aero, trust me. As far as humans go, they're as claimed to each other as they're ever going to be. The only way that they could make it more obvious, is for them to have a wedding."

The boy bristled. It wasn't an uncommon practice for Faunus to have those themselves, but that was more for fun than anything else. "Humans claim…by having a party?"

"Just like we mark by scent and displays of visual dominance…they mark with a ring." Blake just shrugged. She never really cared for the whole wedding complication either, but, even she admitted that the idea was romantic. "We're really not all that far removed from humans. It's just that they don't have the sense of smell that we do. They need a more visual approach. That's also why they speak so much. They need the clarification that their noses don't give them."

"Oh…" He said to that as he began sniffing around the room once more. "But…what about your human?"

"My human?" She gave him something of a look.

He grunted, head clocked to the side as he gave the air another hard sniff. Then he made his way back over to Blake's side of the bed, climbing into her lap. "You smell like a human…like they smell like each other…if that's as claimed as they're going to be…doesn't that mean you've been claimed too?"

Her bow jostled as her ears flicked in irritation. "I haven't claimed anyone. You're probably just smelling a girl named Ruby on me. She's Yang's younger sister…just like you, she still nests sometimes too."

"Why?"

"It's just comfort seeking, that's all."

"Isn't she old enough to be claimed?" He said, now even more confused.

"In the human world, no. Not yet." Blake murmured. "They have social codes about what age a person should be to get mated or married. Rules and things like that, that we don't."

He knew he could smell it…the scent of pheromone that only adult females able to get pregnant carried. She was younger than Blake, he could tell that too, but his nose wasn't lying to him. Whoever this Ruby was, she was all over Blake in a very particular way. A way that spoke of Ruby's joy and happiness. A contented calling card of a docile beta welcoming her alpha. It was a smell that lingered on most of Blake's clothes, and especially her mission gear. In the Faunus world that only meant one thing.

Sitting cross-legged, he let out a tiny confused grumble. Finally, his curiosity got the better of him. "If she's offered, why haven't you taken her?"

"Aero…" Blake growled, red faced, and thoroughly embarrassed. "They don't think that way…" At least not Ruby, or so she hoped, at any rate. "Like I keep telling you, humans use their words to show emotion…not smell." Of course she picked up on how happy Ruby was to see her on any given day. Then again, Ruby was usually happy to see everyone. Blake knew better than to dwell on that fact any more than she had to. "They don't even know they leave scents like that, so she's not doing intentionally."

The boy hummed at this, as if trying to grasp the concept and failing miserably. "But…I mean…if she's not trying…and it's that strong anyway…and she doesn't know that she's doing that…umm…doesn't that mean she wants to be trying...and if she wants to be trying, doesn't that mean she wants to mate with you?"

Blake blinked, her blush intensifying. The logic behind that made too much sense for her already exhausted brain to fathom. She bolted upright, flinging Aero off of her. "Aero…please….don't say anything like that again…"

The young lion Faunus just grinned, sing-song-ing the most ludicrous phrase that had yet to come out of his mouth. "Blakey's got a mmaaaatttteeee."

"I am going to throttle you…"

Hardly threatened by words, he merely started giggling. "Mate...mate, mate, mate-mate, mate."

"You have three seconds to run…" A predatory growl edging into her voice as she could feel her teeth starting to itch as they grew slightly longer, and a lot sharper.

"Mate!" He growled defiantly, that playful edge in his tone.

She tackled him, and the scrapping match was on. A mix of claws, and teeth, ear chomping, and hair pulling...and no human to be mortified by the sight.

 **…**

 **Same Ole Story**

 **…**

Yang felt manic…well and truly manic.

She had never felt so confused or angry in her life. Sure, there were times when someone infuriated her. Others when she felt beside herself, struggling for the right thing to do. She could even count a small handful of times when she felt absolutely murderous. Never before though, had she felt so utterly and completely conflicted. On the one hand, she wanted to bury herself in Glynda's arms, on the other, she wanted to run away from everyone and everything she'd ever known.

She wanted to listen, and she wanted to shout profanities. She wanted to laugh at her own childishness, and cry because she knew in some ways, she _was_ still just a child. Unbloodied and naïve. If someone ordered her to kill Blake, Sun, or Velvet in cold blood, she knew….she just knew, she'd vomit where she stood. She almost vomited when she thought she'd bodily harmed Aero by mistake, and now, even thinking of hurting someone else she knew…someone she even remotely cared about…

She felt nauseous, and after passing more than one rusty container, she realized that was exactly what the smell reminded her of. Something like blood. She leaned over, bile spilling out of her mouth as tears fell from her eyes. She couldn't even begin to guess what they went through as she heaved soundlessly, expelling acid, having skipped lunch entirely.

"Guess you really don't have the stomach for this." A cold bottle of water pressed up against Yang's cheek. "What's the matter, kiddo? Knock back one too many?"

"M-" Speaking was no use as more bile bubbled up, splashing onto the ground below until there was nothing left.

"Hey, easy…easy…"

Lightheaded, and gasping for breath, she looked up hardly hoping…but the hilt of a weapon came crashing down, and her world went back.

"There now, up we go…" Raven grimaced, lifting her now unconscious daughter in her arms. "Little shit's gotten heavy over these eighteen years." She turned back into the main street and catapulted herself into a nearby roof. Not an easy feat with dead weight in her arms. Her deep red eyes looked around until she saw the form of Glynda marching down the street at a frantic pace. "You really are a pain in the ass, aren't you, kid?" It was of no consequence, she met Glynda halfway, landing very ungracefully on the cobbled street just ahead of her.

"Yang!"

"Nice to see you too…" Raven muttered as she righted herself from the very near crash landing. "Looking for this?"

"Where was she?"

"Come on, Glyn…the little pisser's heavier than hell…I already coldcocked her…don't make me drop her on her head too."

Glynda sighed, activating her semblance with ease, effortlessly pulling Yang into her own arms, and holding her there. "You really should just talk to her…"

"I've got nothing to say to her, Glyn, trust me." She offered a soft, somewhat sad smile. "She's got her place, I've got mine…the two don't coincide anymore. Besides, even if I did have something to say, she's going to wake up with one hell of a migraine." Raven waved before setting back off again, hitting the rooftops and running. Glynda had no hope of catching her with Yang in her arms. Yang's pallor color and the fact that she smelled of bile only worried her further, and with a soft, resigned sigh, she turned on her heel and began down the cobbled pathway once more.

With a pained grimace, blurry lilac eyes opened. "Ugghhhh, what the hell?"

"Don't thrash around, Yang. You probably have a concussion." Glynda said, her stride still as steadfast as ever. "Raven doesn't do things by half measure ever…the lack of restraint runs in the family."

"Wait…" Yang struggled, but Glynda's semblance was powerful. The most she could managed was to sit upright before another wave of pain smashed through her. Clutching onto her head was the best she could do. "Wait…god-damn it! I said wait!" Glynda stopped, and Yang looked around. "Where is she…"

"She took off…" Glynda sighed. She gently set Yang down on the next barrel she came across. Checking Yang's eyes with a small pen light she kept on her for just such occasions. She was greeted with several students daily wit typical head injuries, and being the combat instructor meant she bore witness to most of them as they happened. Keeping the small device became second nature. "You're lucky, it seems to be a mild one."

"Tell that to my aching brain." Yang groused. Even she didn't think she could stand without collapsing. Her world was spinning, and the light was like a knife to her eyes. Concentrating her aura was not an easy task, but she began to heal away the agony slowly. "If she's here in this town, I gotta find her."

"She'll only hit you again." Glynda said with a shake of her head, palms resting on either side of Yang. She wouldn't let her storm off again. "Raven isn't someone you can beat into submission. She doesn't take matters lying down, and even if you do find her, she has years of skill you simply don't have."

"I ran into her once, didn't I?"

"She locates you, not the other way around."

"Why does she keep avoiding me?" Tears leaked from the corners of Yang's eyes. If it was from pain or sadness, Glynda couldn't entirely be sure. Still, she thumbed them away as best as she could. "What parent tortures their kid like this?"

"The ones who don't have much maternal instinct, I'd imagine." Her dry words aside, Glynda wasn't sure why Raven kept running. She knew she wouldn't be able to force an answer out of her, either. "Yang, I know you don't want to hear this, but Summer Rose raised you…she was your mother…and she's gone…if she were alive right now, would you be pushing this so hard?"

Yang shrugged. "I don't know…probably…maybe…"

It was time to start asking the hard questions. "If Raven had stayed around, Summer Rose wouldn't have stepped in. She wouldn't have made love to your father, and we wouldn't have Ruby. Hindsight's always going to be twenty-twenty. Can you honestly tell me that you would have a woman like Raven in your life, over the people you already know you have? That you'd trade this life, for that one?"

"Maybe I'm selfish…maybe I just want both…" It didn't matter though. Each and every time she thought she might be one step closer, she was shown how wrong she was. "Maybe I just want to be able to justify why Summer Rose is dead…and why Raven isn't…"

"Yang...that's morbid."

"It's true!" Yang protested. "Ruby will never really have the chance to know her mom like the rest of us did…she was too little…and that feeling sucks…as long as Raven's alive, that's one extra chance I have that Ruby doesn't. I'm lucky to have it, and I don't want to just suddenly lose it...I don't want to wake up one day to find out she died in a forest somewhere. I will _not_ become my baby sister...standing over a grave of a woman I can't even remember...even while everyone else can..."

"We should get you back to the room…"

With Yang's aura now depleted, she couldn't really argue otherwise. "Yeah…okay…"


End file.
